UC Davis Botanical Conservatory

What UC Davis Botanical Conservatory does

The UC Davis Botanical Conservatory is a university research and teaching facility founded in 1959 within the University of California, Davis, a public research university. It operates as part of the broader UC Davis Plant Growth Facilities and is jointly supported by the College of Biological Sciences and the Office of Research. The Conservatory's primary function is to serve as a genetic diversity preserve and educational resource, housing over 2,500 plant species from most of the world's climatic regions across its greenhouses and outdoor growing areas. Its customer base is internal to the University of California system, with no commercial pricing model or external distribution channels.

The facility's core technology comprises physical plant growth infrastructure rather than software or digital products. It maintains 151 plant growth chambers across two campus locations with controls for light intensity, temperature, relative humidity, photoperiod, and irrigation systems. The Research Greenhouses at the Orchard Park facility include 22 research greenhouses, lath houses, contained and open outdoor growing space, and three headhouses. Additionally, the Sciences Laboratory Building Greenhouse on the third floor of the Sciences Lab Building provides classroom-adjacent plant material for plant biology and related courses. The Controlled Environment Facility and Research Greenhouses are managed by dedicated staff.

The business model is institutional rather than commercial. Services are available to University of California research and teaching activities without commercial pricing, funded through university budget allocations. The facility has 6 employees, no external investors, no funding rounds, and no disclosed revenue. It is classified as a government/state entity with no parent-company separation from UC Davis. No M&A activity, partnerships beyond institutional links, or geographic expansion beyond the Davis, California campus are documented.

Name

UC Davis Botanical Conservatory

Legal name

University of California, Davis - Botanical Conservatory

Website

https://greenhouse.ucdavis.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1959

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The UC Davis Botanical Conservatory is a university facility founded in 1959 that maintains over 2,500 plant species and 151 growth chambers to serve UC research and teaching activities, operated as part of the UC Davis Plant Growth Facilities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

University Research Infrastructure Services

NAICS

Zoos and Botanical Gardens (71213), Greenhouse, Nursery, and Floriculture Production (1114), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Zoos, Aquariums & Botanical Gardens (Educational Collections) (THAJADAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Research Universities with Major Extension & Outreach Missions (EDAHAAAG), Plant Propagation & Nursery CEA Equipment (Germination Rooms, Tissue Culture Support) (AFAAAHAJ)

Keywords

• Plant growth facilities
• Botanical research
• Controlled environment chambers
• University greenhouse operations
• Genetic plant conservation

Headquarters

HQ city

Davis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure

Core offering

The UC Davis Botanical Conservatory operates as a university Plant Growth Facility providing four integrated assets: a living plant collection of over 2,500 species for education and genetic preservation, 151 controlled-environment plant growth chambers, 22 research greenhouses with lath houses and outdoor growing space, and a classroom-adjacent teaching greenhouse. Services and access are made available to the University of California research and teaching community.

Product overview

UC Davis Plant Growth Facilities is a unified portfolio of greenhouse and controlled environment research infrastructure supported by the College of Biological Sciences and the Office of Research. The portfolio consists of four distinct facilities: the Botanical Conservatory (an educational and genetic preservation resource with over 2,500 plant species), the Controlled Environment Facility (151 growth chambers with environmental controls), Research Greenhouses (22 greenhouses plus lath houses and outdoor growing areas), and the Sciences Laboratory Building Greenhouse (classroom-adjacent teaching support). These facilities serve University of California research and teaching activities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Botanical Conservatory An educational facility, research resource, and genetic diversity preserve founded in 1959. The greenhouses and outdoor growing areas contain over 2,500 plant species from most of the world's climatic regions, available for the university community and beyond.
• Controlled Environment Facility Maintains a total of 151 plant growth chambers in two separate locations on campus, with chamber controls including light intensity, temperature, relative humidity, photoperiod, and irrigation systems. Available for University of California research and teaching activities.
• Research Greenhouses 22 research greenhouses, lath houses, contained and open outdoor growing space, and three headhouses at the Orchard Park facility, plus two modern greenhouses at the Core Greenhouse Complex overseen by CBS Plant Growth staff. Available for University of California research activities.
• Sciences Laboratory Building Greenhouse A greenhouse on the third floor of the Sciences Laboratory Building that supports classes in plant biology and plant-related biological science courses, with plants conveniently grown adjacent to classrooms.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Broad incumbents

• New York Botanical Garden: One of the largest and oldest botanical gardens in the world, with extensive research, conservation, and education programs. While much larger and more publicly facing than UC Davis's Conservatory, it operates comparable research-conservation functions and serves as a broader incumbent in the botanical institution space.
• Smithsonian Gardens: The gardens and landscape collections of the Smithsonian Institution, supporting research, education, and public exhibition. A broader institutional player that combines plant collections with scientific and educational mission analogous to university botanical gardens.

Direct peers

• UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden: UC-affiliated botanic garden focused on plant conservation, research, and public education. Shares the same public research university backing and similar operations around curated plant collections and university teaching support.
• UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden: Operated by the same University of California, Davis institution, the Arboretum and Public Garden provides complementary outdoor plant collections, gardens, and educational programming. Both facilities share institutional backing and serve overlapping research and teaching missions at UC Davis.
• UC Berkeley Botanical Garden: Another UC system botanical collection housing thousands of plant species for research, conservation, and education. Operates with a similar mission of plant diversity preservation and university teaching/research support within the same University of California governance structure.
• Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University: A research arboretum affiliated with Harvard University, managing extensive living plant collections for scientific research and education. Comparable in combining university-based botanical curation with research-grade plant science.
• UC Riverside Botanic Gardens: UC Riverside's botanic garden, part of the same University of California system, supporting research, teaching, and conservation with diverse plant collections. Operates with the same institutional model as UC Davis's Conservatory.
• Cornell Botanic Gardens: Cornell University's botanical garden, integrating plant collections, research support, and educational programming for a major public research university. Operates a similar teaching-research-conservation model anchored to a land-grant university.
• Missouri Botanical Garden: Major botanical institution with deep ties to Washington University in St. Louis and a long-standing focus on plant conservation, research, and public education. Comparable as a large-scale botanical garden with significant scientific research mission and conservation programming.
• UCLA Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden: UC system's botanical garden dedicated to plant collection, research, and education. Comparable in scale and mission to UC Davis's Conservatory, serving as a teaching resource and living plant collection for the host university.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/uc-davis-botanical-conservatory

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UC Davis Botanical Conservatory