San Francisco Botanical Garden
Encyclopedia
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
in San Francisco's
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
. Its 55 acres (22.3 ha) include over 50,000 individual plants, representing over 8,000 taxa from around the world, with particular focus on Magnolia
Magnolia
Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol....
species, high elevation palms, and cloud forest
Cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...
species from Central America, South America and Southeast Asia.
History
Plans for the garden were originally laid out in the 1880s by park supervisor John McLarenJohn McLaren (park superintendent)
Dr John Hays McLaren served as superintendent of the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA for 53 years.Born at Bannockburn, near Stirling in Scotland, and worked as a dairyman before studying horticulture at the Edinburgh Royal Botanical Gardens where he worked as an apprentice gardener's helper...
, but funding was insufficient to begin construction until Helene Strybing left a major bequest in 1927. Planting was begun in 1937 with WPA
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
funds supplemented by local donations, and the arboretum officially opened in May 1940. As a part of Golden Gate Park, it is officially managed by the city of San Francisco, but the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society plays an important role in providing educational programs, managing volunteers, and curatorial staff. Formed in 1955, the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society (formerly the Strybing Arboretum Society) operates the Helen Crocker Russell Library of Horticulture, a bookstore, and monthly plant sales, and offers a wide range of community education programs for children and adults. The Society also raises money for new projects and Garden renovations. Using green building
Green building
Green building refers to a structure and using process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition...
practices, a new Center for Sustainable Gardening is planned to replace the existing nursery. Other planned renovations include a Southeast Asian Cloud Forest and newly paved pathways.
The Garden continues to actively acquire plants; in 2009 it received 865 accessions totaling over 4,100 individual plants.
Plant collections
The gardens are organized into several specialized collections:- Mediterranean
- California native plantsCalifornia native plantsCalifornia native plants are plants that existed in California prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in the late 18th century...
- John Muir Nature Trail
- Redwood Trail
- Chile
- Cape Province (South Africa)
- Australia
- Mediterranean Basin Region
- California native plants
- Mild-temperate climate
- New Zealand
- Moon-viewing Garden - a Japanese design
- Takamine Garden - Asian plants
- Temperate Asia Garden
- Montane tropic
- Mesoamerican cloud forestCloud forestA cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...
- Southeast Asian cloud forest (opening date TBD)
- Andean cloud forest (in development)
- Mesoamerican cloud forest
- Specialty collections
- Ancient Plant Garden - cycadCycadCycads are seed plants typically characterized by a stout and woody trunk with a crown of large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves. They usually have pinnate leaves. The individual plants are either all male or all female . Cycads vary in size from having a trunk that is only a few centimeters...
s, etc. - Succulent garden
- Dwarf Conifer garden
- Demonstration Garden
- Garden of Fragrance
- Zellerbach Garden of Perennials
- Dry Mexico
- Rhododendron Garden
- Magnolias & Camellias
- Ancient Plant Garden - cycad
The mild Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
is ideal for plants from surprisingly many parts of the world; the arboretum does not include greenhouse
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
s for species requiring other climate types.
See also
- California native plantsCalifornia native plantsCalifornia native plants are plants that existed in California prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in the late 18th century...
- List of botanical gardens in the United States
- North American Plant Collections ConsortiumNorth American Plant Collections ConsortiumThe North American Plant Collections Consortium is a group of North American botanical gardens and arboreta that aims to improve the continent's living plant collections, and enhance the availability of plant germplasm...
- 49-Mile Scenic Drive49-Mile Scenic DriveThe 49-Mile Scenic Drive in San Francisco highlights many of the city's major attractions and historic structures.Opened on September 14, 1938 as a promotion for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, it...