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It’s usually the fabulous fish - not flora - people think of before they visit the Tennessee Aquarium. But once visitors experience one of the Aquarium's three indoor forests under glass, they are transported to an Appalachian cove forest, the Mississippi Delta or a tropical rainforest.

The Aquarium’s beautiful plants help make our exhibits realistic reproductions of ecosystems from around the world. Plants are essential to the balance of nature and in people’s lives. Plants give shelter to small creatures like birds and butterflies, provide a source of food for animals and, green plants give off oxygen necessary for life. The scientific study of plants is called botany; the study of their relationship to their environment and of their distribution is plant ecology. The cultivation of plants for food and for decoration is horticulture.

   *Attracting Butterflies to your yard
   *Buy or grow native plants from your area
   *Butterfly Garden News Release
   *Rainforest Under Glass