The Huntington Desert Garden is part of the Huntington Library, the Arts and Botanical Collection in San Marino, California. Desert Park is one of the largest collections of cactus, succulents, and desert plants in the world, collected from all over the world. It contains plants from extreme environments, many of which were acquired by Henry E. Huntington and William Hertrich (first garden curator) on a journey brought to several countries in North, Central and South America. One of Huntington's most important botanical gardens, Desert Park brings together a group of plants that are largely unknown and unappreciated in the early 1900s. Containing a broad category of xerophytes, the Desert Garden grew into excellence and remains today among the best in the world, with more than 5,000 species in 10 acre parks (4 ha).
At first, Huntington was not interested in building the Desert Park. He does not like cactus at all, because some of his freckle banquets during the construction of the railroad tracks. But Hertrich was persistent, and, once victorious, Mr. Huntington built a railroad race to his garden, to carry rocks, dirt and plants with car loads. As Gary Lyons, a later curator, says, it's very easy to have a racing spur, and deep pockets, when you're building a huge park. A trip to Arizona in 1908 filled three train cars for a trip back to the garden.
The famous Brazilian landscape architect, Roberto Burle Marx calls Huntington Desert Garden "the most extraordinary park in the world."
Video Huntington Desert Garden
Desert Gardens Collection
- Also see: Wilderness Conservatory
The most important collections are the agave and related genera (Agavaceae), the tongue (Aloaceae), the bromeliad terrestrial (Bromeliaceae), the cactus (Cactaceae), echeveria, crassula, sedum and related genera succulents (Crassulaceae), euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae), and fouquieria Fouquieriaceae), as well as nontaxonomic caudiciforms.
The Desert Garden agave and yucca collections, along with cacti, are one of Huntington's most significant research collections. Huntington boasts the world's largest Yucca filifera . The Huntington's Beaucarnea, Ponytail "Palms", a member of the agave family (not the actual palms), are some of the oldest specimens in cultivation, and among the earliest plantings in the Desert Garden.
"Gaharu" (Aloae) is one of the largest collections outside Africa. Aloe arborescens has an unparalleled winter look from a lit red flower stalk. About 200 of the world's 300 species of gaharu are in the upper gardens. Most come from southern Africa. Aloidendron barberae (syn> Aloe bainesii ), which can grow fifty feet in height, is the highest.
Puyas are terrestrial bromeliads (Bromeliaceae) who wear a spectacular display of flowers in April and early May.
Most of the deserted columnar plants belong to the genus Cereus . They shape the structure of many Desert Garden landscapes, producing flowers at the end of summer and colorful fruits in September and October. Cereus xanthocarpus , at twenty tons, is the most massive plant in the garden. Cactus like this tree has been a mature specimen when planted in 1905. It's about 125 years old.
Featuring the most spectacular cactus is the 500 Golden Barrel Cactus (Echinocactus grusonii) in bright yellow, the largest of which is over 85 years old. They bloom in the Spring, and come from central Mexico. This is probably the best Barrel Gold display in the world.
The crassula family consists of succulents of unarmed leaves mostly found in Mexico and Africa. The cool autumn brings out the colors of the pastel leaves in aeonium, echeveria, kalanchoe, pachyphytum, and sedum.
Plants such as cactus-shaped columnar in parts of Africa in the Desert Park are fresh spores (Euphorbia) and have a spicy milk latex. Most species in the garden come from South Africa and East Africa. Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii), a familiar house plant, is a Madagascar prickly native who produces colorful bracts throughout the year.
The strange bizarre boobs (Fouquieria columnaris) of Baja California, is a rare oddity in Fouquieriaceae. The more famous Ocotillo (F. splendens) is in a California bed. The main park has many fouquieria from Mexico with bright red flowers almost all year round.
This park has the largest living stone collection in America, a small southern African plant of the genus Lithops.
Collection of caudiciform plants are equally significant. This plant produces a very thick rod that can look like a sweet potato. The trunk serves as a water storage structure known as caudex. This garden offers a great example of Dioscorea elephantipes .
Source: unless quoted separately.
Maps Huntington Desert Garden
Desert Garden gallery
References
Further reading
- Hertrich, William. "Huntington Botanical Gardens, 1905-1949 William Hertrich's Personal Memories." Huntington Press Library. 1998. # 9780873280969.
- Lyons, Gary (1969): Huntington Desert Park Development: The Past and the Future. CSSA Cactus and Succulent Journal, 41: 10-19.
- Lyons, Gary (2007), Desert Plants: Curator Introduction at Huntington Desert Park. Huntington Library Press, ISBN 978-0-87328-231-4
External links
- Huntington Desert Garden website
- Huntington Gardens photo gallery on Flickr (Creative Commons)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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