Statesman

Issue date: 12/3/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Joe Olivieri Deborah Shubat (left) talks to Christine Ebert (right) about the different plants grown in the greenhouse.

With only eight-class days until finals week, time and sanity seem to be against our side; however, with a little help from Health Services and other departments around campus, events have been taking place in order for students to take a step back and unwind, or de-stress from those overflowing planners.

On Monday, Dec. 1, "De-stress with plants!" was held in the greenhouse. Those who attended were given a tour and allowed to take home various plants at their discretion and availability.

Deborah Shubat, who has been UMD's greenhouse keeper for 25 years, said being in a plant-enriched environment relieves stress.

"You're walking into an area that contains a fresh, abundant amount of oxygen and humidity with the color green," Shubat said. "All the different assortment of plant and soil smells, the sound of water, it can naturally make you more happy and relaxed."

Shubat's love and study of plants is simple.

"They keep people, animals and everything else alive through photosynthesis," she said. "You can sit still and study them. They don't run away like tigers."

The upper greenhouse takes visitors through desert and tropical regions of the world with various levels of humidity, color and plant life: Cacti with red and yellow budding flowers; tobacco plants being used for research; the 20-year-old Georgia Bald Cyprus tree, the Cycad tree that dinosaurs munched on and the six Sterculiaceae Theobroma cacao trees, to name a few. Shubat was especially excited about the cocoa trees.

"Someday, these trees will draw in the crowds," she said. "First I need to get them happy and healthy. Once several bud at once, I can cross-pollinate them."

Other parts of the greenhouse included the ornamental Citrus Mitis tree, where perfectly round mini-oranges decoratively hung. When eaten, however, they prove to be an extremely tart surprise.

"You can eat them if you don't mind puckering up," Shubat said. "They are more tart than lemons and limes."

Shubat also talked about the lush green Hibiscus plants that are kept for biology students who are studying insects.

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