Annual Plant Art Competition

Every year the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology has a Plant Art Competition, highlighting all kinds of plant photos by our faculty, staff, post docs, graduate students, and undergraduate students. You can see this year's finalists below. The Community Favorite was voted on during Spring Fest. A big thank you to all our photographers and to the community for making this an annual event!

2026 Community Favorite

Dandelion with sun in background "Hope Seeds Tomorrow" by Denise Caldwell

2026 Plant Art Finalists

small mushroom growing on tree branch "A Fun-Guy" by Anthony Branton
Bumblebee on an aster flower "Bombas(ter)ic in the Backyard" by Christopher Oakley
waterlily flower "Rainy Day Waterlily" by Sharon Kessler
small mushroom growing out of moss "Peek-A-Boo" by Brieana Branton
purple pitcher plant "Purple Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea)" by Jonathan Lu

2025 Community Favorite

watercolor painting of A field of Funaria "A field of Funaria" by Anju Manandhar. This is a watercolor painting inspired by the miniature and often under-appreciated landscapes of mosses flourishing alongside the various plants that are used for research in the greenhouses. The painting depicts the sporophtyes of Funaria hygrometrica growing out of the gametophytes at the base.