The Glass Flowers

24 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA

01 July, 2021

Description

See the renovated Glass Flowers! Professor George Lincoln Goodale, founder of the Botanical Museum, wanted life-like representatives of the plant kingdom for teaching botany. At the time only crude papier-maché or wax models were available. The parts were shaped after the glass was softened by heat. Some models were blown. Colored glass was used for many, others were "cold painted" with a thin wash of colored ground glass or metal oxide(s) and heated until the material fused to the model. The life-size models include 847 species, with remarkably accurate anatomical sections and enlarged flower parts. Since the Glass Flowers are always in bloom, tropical and temperate species may be studied year-round. The Glass Flowers gallery is open during regular museum hours and is included in the general admission fee. Click here for hours, fees, and directions. Admission Adults $12 Non-Harvard Students with school I.D. $10 Children ages 3-18 $8 Children under 3 Free Current Harvard I.D holders Free Type Exhibit Kids / Families Museums / Attractions