University of California Botanical Garden

The University of California Botanical Garden is a 34 acre (13.7 ha) botanical garden located on the University of California, Berkeley campus. The Garden is in the campus's Strawberry Canyon which overlooks the San Francisco Bay. It is one of the most diverse plant collections in the United States, and famous for its large number of rare and endangered species.

Established in 1890, the Garden now contains more than 20,000 accessions, representing 324 plant families, 12,000 different species and subspecies, and 2,885 genera. Outdoor collections are in general arranged geographically, and nearly all specimens have been collected from the wild. The major family collections include: Cactus (2,669 plants), Lily (1,193 plants), Sunflower (1,151 plants), Heath (897 plants), and Orchid (950). Other well-represented families include about 500 types of ferns and fern allies, Chinese medicinal herbs, plants of economic importance, Old Rose cultivars, and California native plants. A set of greenhouses contain succulents, epiphytes, ferns, carnivorous, and tropical plants.

The Garden's geographically organized sections include:

* African - South African plants including lilies, ice plants and aloes.

* Asian - An outstanding Rhododendron collection (259 taxa, 397 accessions) including many mature tree rhododendrons too tender for most North American climates. Also many members of the redwood family, and unusual shrubs and herbaceous species recently collected from China.

* Australasian - Plants from Australia and New Zealand, including southern beeches, protea and myrtle, and Phormium.

* California Native - 4,000 accessions, including nearly one-half of the state's native vascular plant species and 174 taxa on the California Native Plant Society's list of rare and endangered species. Also manzanitas ("Arctostaphylos spp.") with 81 taxa (252 accessions), California-Lilacs ("Ceanothus spp.") with 55 taxa (164 accessions), and an almost complete collection of California bulbous monocots in the Lily and Amaryllis families ("Fritillaria", "Calochortus", "Lilium", "Erythronium", "Allium", "Brodiaea") with 118 taxa (234 accessions)

* Chinese Medicinal Herb Garden - Selections from the everyday pharmacopeia of modern China.

* Mediterranean - Plants from countries such as Morocco, Spain, Turkey and Syria, with fine views across the bay.

* New World Desert: Cacti and other succulents from North and Central America, plus the high deserts of the Andes.

* North American: Plants include Liriodendron, bald cypress, and Cornus.

* South American - A young grove of Monkey-puzzle trees ("Araucaria araucana"), an outstanding collection of fuchsias, and several species of southern beech.

The Garden's greenhouses are as follows. The Arid House presents seasonal exhibits of cacti and succulents. The Fern and Carnivorous Plants House display diverse ferns and unusual insect-eating plants. The Tropical House features tropical plants of economic value.

See also

* List of botanical gardens in the United States
* California native plants

External links

* [http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/ The University of California Botanical Garden] - Official website