summer
2014
Harvesting Mango DNA
The Science Behind the King of Fruit
published by fairchild tropical botanic garden
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tropical
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contents
features
The Call of the Wild:
The rebirth of the mango
plants
31 17 how
package seeds
departments
from the director 4
from the chief operating officer 5
schedule of events 7
get in on the conservation 9
tropical cuisine 11
explaining 12
vis-a-vis volunteers 15
what’s blooming 22
plant collections 29
edible gardening 45
what’s in store 51
gardening in south florida 59
plant societies 61
gifts and donors 62
garden views 65
from the archives 68
connect with fairchild 70
where others dare
38 Living
not: plants of the desert
from the director
A
spectacularly productive mango season has arrived in South Florida. Once again,
we are seeing and tasting the result of more than a century of mango research and
exploration. Our collection at The Fairchild Farm, now totaling more than 600
living accessions, was gathered from all corners of the mango world. During this
year’s International Mango Festival, you can enjoy the flavors, colors and incredible stories
from our collection.
This year, we launched a new program to study the genetics of our mango collection, adding
new dimension to our ongoing tropical fruit research. Visitors to the new Raymond Baddour
DNA Laboratory in the Paul and Swanee DiMare Science Village now have the opportunity
to see mango DNA research in action.
To learn about mango DNA, we gather leaf samples from our living mango accessions at The
Fairchild Farm and flash-freeze them in the lab with liquid nitrogen. In a cloud of steam, we
grind the super-cooled leaf samples into a fine, green powder. We use our lab equipment to
transform that powder into samples of pure DNA. As we stockpile hundreds of test tubes of
mango DNA in our freezer, we are building a tremendous resource for studying the mango’s
origin, diversity and potential breeding opportunities.
Our team of staff, students and volunteers is studying the mango DNA samples in our rapidly
expanding collection. This summer, a group of high school interns will help the project
grow, bringing new samples from The Farm to the laboratory for analysis.
In this issue, Noris Ledesma, Fairchild’s curator of tropical fruit, and Dr. Richard Campbell,
our director of horticulture, explain the incredible value of our collection for genetic
research and the future of mangos (“The Call of the Wild,” p. 31). Emily Warschefsky, a
Ph.D. Student at Florida International University, describes some of our goals in building this
research at Fairchild (“Message in a Bottleneck,” p. 34).
All of the world’s major crop plants, including rice, wheat, tomatoes and many others,
have been studied in detail through decades of DNA research. Results of that research have
helped rescue those crops from pests and diseases, and have brought valuable new varieties
to the market. We are only in the beginning stages of that kind of research on mangos, but
we see a bright future ahead. Any advances we make in mango genetics can positively
impact the livelihood of people throughout the tropics.
Along with the mango, there are hundreds of other kinds of tropical plants waiting to be
studied. Take a close look at our plants the next time you visit Fairchild, and you might catch
a glimpse of the small metal tags we use to identify and keep track of more than 12,000
plants. The majority of those plants have never been the subject of detailed genetic research.
Within our collection stand many new research opportunities just waiting to be tackled.
In the years ahead, you will see increasing numbers of researchers and students clipping leaf
samples from plants throughout the Garden and processing those samples in our labs. You can
look forward to new discoveries as we unlock the secrets held within the genes of tropical plants.
I hope you savor this mango season and dream of an even more flavorful future as science
moves forward at Fairchild.
Best regards,
Carl Lewis, Ph.D.
Director
from the chief operating officer
T
he temperature is warmer, the humidity higher and our umbrellas are in hand,
because, after all, afternoon showers are expected—all clear signs that summer
has arrived.
Fairchild is a tropical garden. Its 83 acres exhibit some of the world’s most exotic tropical
plants. Many of these plants thrive in the tropics, where temperatures average 80 degrees
year-round with consistent high humidity. South Florida is technically in the subtropics,
which means our average summertime temperature is in the upper 80s, but we experience
dry, cooler months in the winter. Summertime in South Florida is as close as we get to true
tropical weather. As a result, the tropical plants in the Garden are at their most spectacular
during these summer months. They respond to the higher temperatures and humid
conditions by seemingly bursting with verdant euphoria.
Summer also means mangos. Hearing “thump” when the first ripe mango of the season hits
the ground is the tropical world’s version of Groundhog Day: an unmistakable indication
that summer is here again. Fairchild celebrates the mango harvest with the annual
International Mango Festival (July 12–13), and this year’s event will once again bring mango
mania to South Florida. No other fruit arouses as much passion as the mango; the variety
of flavors and cultural resonances make it a truly global treasure. Our tropical fruit team
is working diligently to capture this global crop’s cultural, horticultural, agricultural and
scientific information. The Mango Festival is the culmination of the full spectrum of critically
important work related to the king of tropical fruit.
Summer also means family trips, vacations and weekend adventures. Be sure to make time to
visit Fairchild this summer. There are many activities designed to keep you cool during your
visit, like walking tours of the Rainforest and The Edible Garden, delicious smoothies of fresh
fruit from The Fairchild Farm, tram tours and, of course, the Wings of the Tropics exhibit and
adjacent Glasshouse Café, which is a perfect place to cool off and enjoy a great meal while
watching the dance of the butterflies.
I hope you enjoy the wonderful articles in this issue. Our staff spends a great deal of time
carefully crafting stories that illustrate both the botanical world at large and the Garden’s
important work. For instance, we present a great article about the oft-overlooked beauty and
utility of seeds, a fascinating look into consumption and conservation of edible orchids in
China, a beautiful travel and photo log of plants from the Mojave Desert, a delicious recipe
for mango ceviche that is perfect for all of those mangos you’re harvesting from your trees, a
step-by-step guide to growing the sacred lotus and so much more.
So this summer, come on over and enjoy mangos, the beauty of tropical plants in full splendor
and the endless possibilities of fun and learning that are offered only here at Fairchild.
Warmest regards,
Nannette M. Zapata
Chief Operating Officer and Editor in Chief
summer 2014
5
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contributors
Pond problems?
we are your answer!
Noris Ledesma is
the curator of tropical fruit
for Fairchild. She is a plant
collector and tropical fruit
specialist focused on mangos,
and has spent the last decade in
tropical Asia, Africa and North
and South America searching
for new fruit and lecturing on
their care and production. She is
currently working on her Ph.D.
in Mangifera species and their
contribution to the people
of Borneo.
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Richard J. Campbell,
Ph.D., is Fairchild’s director
of horticulture and senior
curator of tropical fruit. A South
Florida native, he trained in
the physiology of fruit crops
for his master’s and doctorate
degrees, and has dedicated
over 20 years at Fairchild to the
conservation of tropical fruit
genetic resources and horticultural
outreach. He aspires to train
the next generation of tropical
horticulturists in South Florida.
GEORGIA TASKER
was the garden writer for The
Miami Herald for more than 30
years, and now writes and blogs
for Fairchild. She has received
the Garden’s highest honor, the
Barbour Medal, and a lifetime
achievement award from the
Tropical Audubon Society. She
is also an avid photographer,
gardener and traveler. She
graduated cum laude from
Hanover College in Hanover,
Indiana.
Emily Warschefsky
is a Ph.D. student in the joint
graduate program at Fairchild
and Florida International
University. Under the
supervision of Dr. Eric von
Wettberg, and in collaboration
with Fairchild’s tropical fruit
program, she is researching the
evolution and domestication
of the mango. She received
her B.A. in biology from Reed
College (Portland, Oregon)
in 2009.
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ON THE Cover
The sun sets on a
mango grove.
schedule of events
The official publication of
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
editorial staff
editor in chief
chief operating officer
Nannette M. Zapata
design
Lorena Alban
production manager
Gaby Orihuela
features writers
Georgia Tasker
Kenneth Setzer
staff contributors
Richard Campbell, Ph.D.
Mary Collins
Arlene Ferris
Erin Fitts
Mike Freedman
Marilyn Griffiths
Noris Ledesma
Hong Liu, Ph.D.
Brooke LeMaire
Emily Warschefsky
Sara Zajic
copy editors
Mary Collins
Rochelle Broder-Singer
Kenneth Setzer
advertising information
Leslie Bowe
305.667.1651, ext. 3338
previous editors
Marjory Stoneman Douglas 1945-50
Lucita Wait 1950-56
Nixon Smiley 1956-63
Lucita Wait 1963-77
Ann Prospero 1977-86
Karen Nagle 1986-91
Nicholas Cockshutt 1991-95
Susan Knorr 1995-2004
The Tropical Garden Volume 69,
Number 3. Summer 2014.
The Tropical Garden is published quarterly.
Subscription is included in membership dues.
© FTBG 2014, ISSN 2156-0501
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced without permission.
Accredited by the American Association of
Museums, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
is supported by contributions from members
and friends, and in part by the State of Florida,
Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs,
the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, the John
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the
National Endowment for the Arts, the Institute of
Museum and Library Services, the Miami-Dade
County Tourist Development Council, the MiamiDade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the
Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County
Mayor and Board of County Commissioners and
with the support of the City of Coral Gables.
July
weekend activities
Go to www.fairchildgarden.
org/weekends for
programming.
Plant ID Workshop
Friday, July 4
1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Fairchild
International Mango
Festival Growers’
Summit
Friday, July 11
9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
The 22nd Annual
International Mango
Festival
Saturday and Sunday
July 12 and 13
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Fairchild’s 15th
Annual Mango
Brunch
Sunday, July 13
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
August
Volunteer
Information Days
Tuesday, August 19
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Saturday, August 23
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
September
Plant ID Workshop Friday, September 5
1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Jackfruit Jubilee
Saturday, September 13
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Volunteer
Information Days
Saturday, September 13
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Plant Show and
Sale Presented by the
International Aroid
Society
Friday, Saturday and Sunday
September 19, 20 and 21
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Members’ Day
Plant Sale Saturday, October 4
9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
November
Plant Show and
Sale Presented by the
South Florida Palm
Society
Saturday and Sunday
November 1 and 2
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
74th Annual Ramble,
a fall Garden Festival
Friday, Saturday and
Sunday
November 7, 8 and 9
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Plant ID Workshop Friday, November 7
1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
October
weekend activities
Go to www.fairchildgarden.
org/weekends for
programming.
Bird Festival
AT Fairchild Thursday through Sunday
October 2, 3, 4 and 5
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Plant ID Workshop Friday, August 1
1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Plant ID Workshop Friday, October 3
1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
This schedule of events is
subject to change. For up-to-theminute information, please call
305.667.1651 or visit
www.fairchildgarden.org/Events
Membership
at fairchiLd
Membership Categories
Your Benefits...
We have expanded and added membership
categories to better fit your needs:
• Free daily admission throughout the year
• Free admission to all daytime events and art exhibitions
• Free admission to the Wings of the Tropics Exhibit
• Free parking
• Free admission to all Members-only events, including
Members’ Lectures, Moonlight Tours, the Members’ Day
Plant Sale and select Members-only evening events
• Quick Admit at all admission points
• Subscription to the award-winning magazine
The Tropical Garden
• Discounts to all ticketed day or evening events
• Discounts at The Shop at Fairchild
• Discounts and priority registrations for
adult education classes and seminars
• Discounts to kids’ summer camps
• Discounts on a wide variety of products and services
from participating Branch Out Partners
• Free or discounted admission** to more than 500 other
gardens, arboreta and museums in the U.S. and abroad
(**certain restrictions may apply)
$90
Individual
Admits one adult
Dual
Admits two adults
$110
Family
$135
Grandparents
Admits two adults and grandchildren
of members (17 and under)
$125
Family and Friends
Admits four adults and children
of members (17 and under)
$170
Sustaining
$250
Signature
$500
Admits two adults and
children of members (17 and under)
Admits four adults and children of members
(17 and under). Receives six gift admission
passes ($150 value)
Admits four adults and children of members
(17 and under). Receives eight gift admission
passes ($200 value)
For more information, please call
the Membership Department at
305.667.1651, ext. 3362 or visit
www.fairchildgarden.org/Membership
fairchild tropical botanic garden
Photo by Gaby Orihuela/FTBG
fairchild
board of trustees
get in on the conservation
Bruce W. Greer
President
Louis J. Risi, Jr.
Senior Vice President
& Treasurer
Charles P. Sacher
Vice President
Suzanne Steinberg
Vice President
Jennifer Stearns Buttrick
Vice President
L. Jeanne Aragon
Vice President
& Assistant Secretary
Joyce J. Burns
Secretary
Leonard L. Abess
Alejandro J. Aguirre
Raymond F. Baddour, Sc.D.
Nancy Batchelor
Norman J. Benford
Faith F. Bishock
Bruce E. Clinton
Martha O. Clinton
Swanee DiMare
José R. Garrigó
Kenneth R. Graves
Willis D. Harding
Patricia M. Herbert
Robert M. Kramer, Esq.
James Kushlan, Ph.D.
R. Kirk Landon
Lin L. Lougheed, Ph.D.
Tania Masi
Bruce C. Matheson
Peter R. McQuillan
David Moore
Stephen D. Pearson, Esq.
Adam R. Rose
John K. Shubin, Esq.
Janá Sigars-Malina, Esq.
James G. Stewart, Jr., M.D.
Vincent A. Tria, Jr.
Angela W. Whitman
Ann Ziff
Clifford W. Mezey
T. Hunter Pryor, M.D.
Trustees Emeriti
Carl E. Lewis, Ph.D.
Director
Nannette M. Zapata, M.S./MBA
Chief Operating Officer
Fairchild Challenge Partners from 10 Institutions
Talk Collaboration
For more than 12 years, The Fairchild Challenge has been a role model for environmental
science education. Its simple structure of a school competition and the celebration of
students, teachers and schools make this program easily adaptable for environments from
the plains and canyons of Utah, to the urban settings of Pittsburgh and Miami, to rural
communities in the Amazon.
Over the years, national and international botanical gardens, arboreta, research institutions
and other community organizations have participated in workshops to learn how The
Fairchild Challenge can be replicated and integrated as an educational tool
at their own organizations.
In March, 10 partner institutions currently running The Fairchild Challenge program
met at Fairchild. They discussed the challenges of connecting students globally by
exchanging their projects and findings and looking for ways to create more opportunities
for collaboration. This summit was largely funded by the Institute of Museum and
Library Services, which recognizes The Fairchild Challenge as a benchmark for informal
education programs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The Institute’s
grant also funded program evaluation and the training of three new program partners.
Fairchild Ph.D. Student Earns Two
Prestigious Research Grants
Fairchild Ph.D. student Emily Warschefsky, supervised by Dr. Eric
von Wettberg of Florida International University and Fairchild, was
recently awarded two prestigious research grants. Warschefsky
was one of 20 graduate students from across the country selected
to receive the Botanical Society of America’s Graduate Student
Research Award, and one of 19 chosen to receive the American
Society of Plant Taxonomists Graduate Student Research Grant.
These awards will support Warschefsky’s dissertation research, which
aims to shed light on the genetic impacts of domestication in mangos
(Mangifera indica), investigate possible hybridization between the
mango and its wild relatives and elucidate the mango’s evolutionary
relationship to other wild Mangifera species. This issue of The
Tropical Garden features Warschefsky’s research work (page 34).
Fairchild Graduate Student Recognized
for his Work in Education
Jason Downing, a Fairchild Ph.D. candidate at Florida International
University under Dr. Hong Liu’s supervision and a Fairchild
Education Fellow, earned the UGS Provost Award for Graduate
Student Engagement. The award is given to outstanding FIU graduate
students who have demonstrated significant local, regional or global
engagement through a partnership that has led to demonstrable
community impacts. Downing earned this honor for his significant
work with The Fairchild Challenge.
Photo by Diana Peña/FTBG
Photo by David Hardy/FTBG
During his three-year tenure with The Fairchild Challenge, Downing
has mentored more than 500 public, private and charter school students
and teachers, mentored students through visits to their schools (using his
research on native orchids as a teaching vehicle), created and facilitated
teacher professional development workshops and coordinated events
and workshops for students at Fairchild. Most notably, for the past two
years Downing coordinated the Garden-wide Environmental Immersion
Day. His impact has been tremendous.
The Fairchild Challenge Students Create
Baynanza T-shirt Designs
Fairchild Volunteer Heading to Yale
to Study Science
At this year’s Baynanza Biscayne Bay Cleanup Day VIP Celebration,
the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners and other
county officials recognized eight student participants in The Fairchild
Challenge (elementary school level) for their t-shirt designs.
Fairchild is fortunate to have many high school students who
take time out of their busy school schedules to volunteer at
the Garden. One such student is Omar Paez, (above) voted
“Most Intelligent” by his peers at Coral Reef Senior High.
Paez won an honorable mention in the Silver Knight Science
Award and was a Finalist for the Bill Gates Millennium
Scholarship. He volunteered in the Wings of the Tropics
butterfly exhibit, Metamorphosis Lab and Micropropagation
Lab, where Fairchild Director Dr. Carl Lewis allotted him
space for independent research.
Submitting a design for the Baynanza t-shirt was part of this year’s
Fairchild Challenge activities. Approximately 7,000 elementary
students from Fairchild Challenge schools participated in this
challenge, with 150 entries submitted for final judging. Eight of those
entries received highest awards, with Sofia Flores from Royal Green
Elementary earning first place. Flores’s design was printed on this
year’s Baynanza t-shirt, which was distributed to thousands of event
participants. Wearing their t-shirts proudly, fellow students, teachers,
family members and Fairchild Challenge staff attended the VIP event
to support the winning students and participate in this wonderful
community project.
10 THE TROPICAL Garden
“Highly motivated, goal oriented and always ready to learn,
Omar has been an invaluable member of the volunteer team
and an inspiration to many,” says Fairchild Horticulturist
David Hardy, who worked with him. Paez will soon begin
his freshman year at Yale University, where he will study
plant biotechnology and economics.
tropical cuisine
Mangos
Crisp and Green or
Ripe and Sweet
By Noris Ledesma
Mangos are intoxicatingly delicious. They should be eaten raw
and ripe on a street corner or over your kitchen sink. You have to
assume the right stance—legs back, chin forward, elbows out—to
avoid juice dripping down your arm. For a cook, they are the best
kind of ingredient because they require little help. Cooking with
mangos demands a simple preparation with only a few ingredients
so their true flavor stands out.
I
n Colombia, mangos are snacks
for any time of the day. They can
be breakfast, dessert or provide
natural juice for lunch or dinner.
Colombia is located in the tropics,
which allows for two seasons during the
year. The main growing season is during
our winter; the second, smaller season
comes during our summer. Mangos
in Colombia are available anywhere:
backyards, farmers markets and even
the corner street vendor’s cart.
Maduro o verde?
Mangos are sold on the streets of most
Colombian towns and cities and range
from sweet to salty, depending on the
preparation and type of mango. It is up
to you: sweet and ripe (maduro) or green
and tart (verde). Sold cubed and packed
in tall plastic bags, then sprinkled with
salt, mangos are the local snack. The
majority of mangos grown in Colombia
are ‘Keitt’ for the green market and
‘Azucar’ for those who love them sugary.
‘Azucar’ is widely considered the
national mango of Colombia, as its
flavor speaks to the tropical lowlands
and sweet cane sugar.
It is a polyembryonic cultivar that has
been savored by many generations of
children and the young at heart. The
average fruit weight is 220 grams, and
the color ranges from barium yellow
to azalea pink when exposed to the
sun. The flesh is saffron yellow with
coarse fiber throughout—but fret
not, for mango flesh is destined to be
softened and sucked out of the fruit.
‘Azucar’ can be found in street markets
throughout the Colombian lowlands
and can fetch high prices.
The tree is easy to grow, with consistent
production and a signature flavor not
to be missed. Trees will be available at
Fairchild’s Annual Mango Festival this
July 12-13, so don’t miss it.
It is always a plus when something
that tastes so good is actually good
for you. Mangos are blood builders
and a digestive aid. They stimulate
metabolism, which is always welcome
in my book. And, their high content
of iron, potassium, magnesium, beta
carotene and vitamins C, B1, B2, B3
and B6 makes them a valuable addition
to the fruit basket.
Mango Ceviche
Sweet mango, salty shrimp and tart lime
balance each other beautifully in this light
dish—great for a quick meal or as an elegant
appetizer!
2 cups fresh, ripe, but firm, mango—
chopped and peeled
1 cup green mango—chopped and peeled
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon minced red onion
1 tablespoon minced red bell pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons minced jalapeño
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 ounces raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and
cut into 1/4-inch pieces
Combine all of the ingredients except the shrimp
in a non-reactive bowl and stir well.
Add the shrimp and toss to coat with the
marinade, cover and refrigerate for two hours.
Arrange the ceviche mixture in a decorative
bowl or martini glass and serve chilled.
explaining
family
FUN
with nature
By Sara Zajic
For kids, summer is the perfect
time for relaxing with friends and
enjoying freedom from homework.
But when freedom turns to boredom,
it’s time for some new, creative ways
to inspire your kids. Beyond summer
reading, here are some great ways to
keep eager minds working, all while
having fun exploring and engaging
with nature, either at Fairchild or in
your own backyard.
Leftover Gardens
Food scraps can be used for compost, but there is also a lot
of everyday produce that you can re-grow. “Leftover gardens”
or “zombie gardens” are a hands-on way to introduce
sustainability, reusing materials and gardening. As an added
bonus, you get free produce. Popular and easy starters include
green onions, celery, basil and sweet potato. For more
ambitious gardeners, try re-growing pineapple or ginger. To regrow green onion: After using the greens, submerge the white
end with the roots in a glass of water, with a small portion
above the water. Place the glass in a sunny window and change
the water every few days. Harvest the greens as needed.
Solar Beads
If you need a motivator for your family to leave the couch
and go play outside, invest in solar beads, available online.
When you look at them indoors, the beads are clear, but when
exposed to UV light, they turn a variety of bright colors. Not
only are these stunning for unique, color-changing jewelry,
they are a starting point for important lessons about being
sun smart, especially in South Florida. Smear sunscreen on
some of the beads and leave others exposed. Which change
color faster? What does that tell us about the importance of
sunscreen? Next, compare beads placed in the shade versus
direct sunlight. Solar beads are also a fun way to jump-start
learning about solar energy.
Flower Pounding
For young artists, start a fashion trend using the
pigments of nature. This activity is best done outdoors
and lets your designers express themselves while getting
out a little extra energy. Pick several brightly colored
flowers and leaves from the garden and arrange them
in a pattern on top of a cotton shirt or bandana. Place
a piece of wax paper over the plant materials and
get to pounding! Once you have the desired effect,
move on to another piece until you’ve completed your
artwork. When you have the perfect pigmentation,
allow the piece to dry and heat set with a dry iron on
low temperature. The poundings should not be washed,
but they can be dry-cleaned. Now go and show your
pounded piece with pride!
Play with Your Food
Set up an experiment that gives young scientists an
inside look at what plants need as they grow some
yummy veggies. Using small pots or cups, plant 12
beans (green beans work particularly well). Label three
as the “control,” three as “low light,” three as “singing“
and three as “soda.” Make a hypothesis by guessing
which plants will grow the fastest. Place the three
control pots in a sunny spot and water every other day.
The three labeled “low-light” should receive the same
amount of water as the control plants, but place them in
a shady spot. For the three labeled “singing,” give them
the same light and water as the control plants, but talk
or sing to them every day. The soda group gets the same
sunlight as the control plants, but gets soda instead
of water. Let the race begin! Every few days, measure
the plants and record observations. Which plants are
growing the fastest? At the end of the summer, which
plant is the biggest? Why do you think this is?
Nature Journals
Create a journal to help young explorers look more
carefully at the nature in their own backyard. To make
your own journal, begin with a stack of scrap paper
and punch holes down the side. For a sturdy cover, cut
up a cereal box and turn it so that the plain cardboard
side faces out. Decorate the cover, and then use yarn or
ribbon to bind the journal. Have your young naturalists
sit outside and use their senses to explore and make
observations. Use a magnifying lens to see, up close,
the bugs and plants interacting. Listen to the sound of
the wind. How does it make you feel?
Have your young naturalists take their journals on field
trips, too. There are lots of exciting local nature centers
to visit, and some of them are even free. On August 25,
Everglades National Park will offer free admission for
the National Park Service’s birthday. Bring your journal
on a visit and compare and contrast what you see there
to the nature you see in your neighborhood.
All that, and More!
For amazing exposure to nature and plants from all
over the world, sign up for Fairchild’s Junior Naturalist
Summer Camp. Each weeklong session focuses on different
topics, ranging from Plant Explorers to Outdoor Skills
to Conservation. Campers become scientists, creative
thinkers, artists and conservationists through hands-on
activities, experiments and crafts. All the camps are
held in the one-of-a-kind Garden, and camp runs from
June 16 through July 25. Space is limited, so sign up today.
For fun with the whole family, check out Fairchild’s
new LEAF program. One weekend each month, there
will be free activities in The Learning Garden, perfect
for all ages.
Volunteering
at Fairchild
Become a Fairchild volunteer
and let a few hours of your
time blossom into a world of
new experiences!
Fairchild volunteers serve the Garden,
the community and the world through
their hands-on participation in Fairchild’s
programs and activities, while meeting
others who share their interest in plants and
gardens. Volunteer opportunities range from
gardening to guiding, hosting to helping
with the Wings of the Tropics exhibit.
To learn more about becoming a Fairchild
volunteer and how you can help the
Garden grow, come to one of our Volunteer
Information Days.
Tuesday, August 19
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Saturday, August 23
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Saturday, September 13
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
For reservations and additional information
please call 305.667.1651 ext. 3360.
We look forward to seeing you!
fairchild tropical botanic garden
vis-a-vis volunteers
Taking the Time to Celebrate Volunteers
Fairchild’s Annual Volunteer
Appreciation Brunch
By Kenneth Setzer and Arlene Ferris. Photos by Fairchild Staff.
(L-R) Board of Trustees President Bruce Greer, Volunteer of the Year
Juanita Bayard and Garden Director Dr. Carl Lewis.
W
e often mention how
valuable our volunteers
are, and earlier this year,
we were able to show
them just how much we appreciate them.
The Volunteer Appreciation Brunch took
place on March 19 in the newly renovated
Garden House. Fairchild staff once again
turned the tables on our volunteers and
hosted, prepared and served more than 80
different dishes, including Jamaican jerk
chicken, Indian samosas, Vietnamese spring
rolls, mango bread, scones, dozens of salads
and two tables of desserts—there was truly
something to appeal to every appetite.
More than 300 volunteers came and
celebrated. They’re a fun group who
clearly enjoy each other’s friendship and
camaraderie—this was not your typical
reserved work brunch. They were all
eager to hear speeches from Fairchild
Director Dr. Carl Lewis, Board of Trustees
(L-R) Director of Volunteer Services Arlene Ferris
and Volunteer of the Year Kay Chouinard.
President Bruce Greer and Director of
Volunteer Services Arlene Ferris. All three
praised the dedication of our volunteers,
evident in their combined 80,000-plus
hours of service last year. You read that
correctly—that’s 80 thousand hours.
The gathering also celebrated volunteer
anniversaries with pin presentations
commemorating service from five to
40 years, and the Bertram Zuckerman
Volunteer of the Year Awards. This year’s
honorees are quite visible to all Garden
visitors. As two “faces of the Garden,”
Juanita Bayard and Kay Chouinard
can often be found guiding guests and
directing foot traffic at the Garden’s South
Entrance. Both women often summon
their extensive knowledge of Fairchild and
combine it with a smile and diplomacy
to work through any and all situations
they encounter.
Juanita Bayard has been volunteering
at the Garden since 2004, and has
contributed more than 5,000 hours. She
has assisted in various functions, including
admissions, education, membership and
volunteer services. “Volunteering here
has to be treated like a job,” Bayard said.
“Our responsibilities are vital in keeping
our Garden functioning as it needs to, but
at the same time it’s a lot of fun.”
Kay Chouinard has been volunteering
since 2008, contributing more than
3,000 hours to ensure a smooth flow of
operations not only at the busy South
Entrance, but also in admissions and
membership. “I feel it’s a privilege to
volunteer at Fairchild,” Chouinard said.
“I feel I get more out of being a volunteer
here than what Fairchild gets from me.”
summer 2014
15
In his speech, Greer compared Fairchild
to Renaissance-era Florence, Italy—a
place to celebrate nature, science and
art. This is true now more than ever with
the DiMare Science Village and Wings of
the Tropics exhibit in The Clinton Family
Conservatory both in full swing.
This leads us to a Fairchild first: The first
“Volunteer Team of the Year” award,
which was presented to the Wings of the
Tropics day captains. These 14 volunteers
ensure the exhibit’s hundreds of daily
visitors enjoy a fun and interactive
experience, keep the traffic flow
steady and answer questions about the
butterflies—all while ensuring all USDA
regulations are maintained. “This group
not only works extremely well as a team,
but they inaugurated the first year of
Wings of the Tropics,” Ferris said. “They
were there at the start.”
Lewis reminded everyone that, “the
Garden truly could not function without
its volunteers. There’s no way all of what
we do could be accomplished without
your selfless dedication and love
of Fairchild.”
Some of the 2014 Anniversary Pin recipients gathered in front of the Garden House
after the brunch. Volunteers wear their service pins proudly, and the longevity of
their service attests to their dedication to the Garden’s mission.
2014 Anniversary Pin Recipients
35 Years of Service
Barbara Katzen
30 Years of Service
Bruce Greer
Roger Hammer
25 Years of Service
Elizabeth McQuale
Wings of the Tropics Day Captains
(L-R): Ted Adelman, Ann McMullan, Jim Berlin,
Mimi Schwar, Jim Schmucker, Kathy Jones,
Glenn Huberman and Jeff Kaplan. Not shown:
Tom Abell, Frances Aronovitz, Anita Cody, Bill
Quesenberry, Mary Teas, Molly Whitman. At the
brunch Jeff Kaplan was quick to acknowledge
that the captains’ success depends on the great
volunteers who serve on their teams!
16 THE TROPICAL Garden
20 Years of Service
Lavinia Acton
Leonard Abess
Alejandro Aguirre
Elizabeth Beach
Joyce Burns
Phyllis Goldstein
Pat James
Yonna Levine
Jan Luykx
Tom Moore
Lane Park
Josef Pommer
John Soliday
Carmen Woodbury
15 Years of Service
Louise Bennett
Rosie Haning
Pat Herbert
Lynda LaRocca
Adele Mucha
Moyna Prince
Neice Schreiber
10 Years of Service
Maureen Adelman
Josefina Assa
Nancy Baldwin
Juanita Bayard
Tom Brown
Miguel Carson
Joe Cummings
Jim Cunningham
Jane Davidson
Polly Edwards
Ginny Guin
Barbara Lalevee
Lin Lougheed
Margaret Martin
Marigrace McCabe
Betty Oglesby
Paula Permetti
Susan Petersen
Janet Reed
Nancy Roberts
Mary Jo Robertson
Sandi Smith
Barbara Willig
Angela Whitman
Lorna Whyte
5 Years of Service
Julie Petrella Arch
Marlyn Asbel
Josie Batista
Marianne Bienstock
Ann Chitty
Carol Dieringer
Luisa Duran
Teresa Duran
Betts Faust
Mary-Anne Goseco
Magdalena Goudie
Twila Grandchamp
Gulcin Gumus
Susan Hangge
Susan Heckerling
Mary Rankin Jackson
Polly Kinslowe
Joel Kolker
Susan Pettapiece
Lucy Petrey
Wendy Robbins
Louise Ross
Candy Sacher
Sandy Sadlak
Adam Schachner
Jim Schmucker
Lola Schobel
Tighe Shomer
Susan Spatzer
Britt Steinhardt
John Struck
Margie Tabak
Deborah Van Coevering
Ted Weiss
Molly Whitman
How plants package
seeds
Clever, beautiful, ingenious:
plants’ glorious designs for their progeny
Text and photos by Georgia Tasker
Bulnesia arborea, a Caribbean tree
related to lignum vitae and introduced
by Dr. David Fairchild, has a five-sided
wind-dispersed pod called a samara,
each side containing a single seed. Never
have I seen a single pod fly, spin or
land, although they certainly must when
I am not watching because they are all
over the ground in spring. The papery
membrane that forms the pod or wings is
the dried inside of the ovary wall.
W
The Latin American Triplaris cumingiana,
or Long John, produces one-seeded dried
fruits known as achenes. The achenes
have three thin reddish calyces (the
collective term for plant sepals) that serve
as wings. Given the right breeze, they
detach from their twigs and spin to the
ground. The achenes are indehiscent,
which means they don’t open to disperse
their contents. They are the contents.
ind, animal, water or human dispersed, seeds and their packaging—be it fancy
or plain—have become my new obsession. The clever, beautiful, often ingenious and
sometimes practical packaging of seeds does not usually garner the adulation given
flowers. But many plants devise such marvelous ways of releasing their progeny that
they surely deserve World Heritage designation. With camera and macro
lens, I’ve been capturing samples of their glorious designs.
18 THE TROPICAL Garden
Amaryllis, or Hippeastrum cultivars,
produce three-parted capsules that split
back from the top to reveal black seeds
stacked like pancakes. They fall to
the ground.
Frangipani or Plumeria species have
double pods that resemble young horns
of Scottish Highland cattle. They stick
straight out to each side from each
other (as do the pods of the desert rose,
Adenium obesum). As the pods dry, they
split open, or dehisce. Inside are winged
seeds that make languid flight circles until
they softly touch earth. These pods are
called follicles, and they split only down
one side, freeing the seeds for flight.
Ptychosperma palms are fast-growing,
slender, palms that produce enormous
amounts of seeds—most of which will
sprout if given the opportunity. Yet, they
are able to take South Florida’s climate
and soils and are resistant to
lethal yellowing.
Mahogany trees, Swietenia mahogani,
produce large wooden capsules that
split from the base into five sections or
carpels that are reminiscent of the doors
of the old gull wing Mercedes sports cars.
Each compressed section contains tightly
and perfectly arranged winged seeds
(samaras, as Bulnesia arborea produces).
The wings are dry membranes that were
part of the fruit wall. When you find one
with the pedicel or stalk still attached, the
structure looks like a baby’s rattle.
Aristolochia vines form seedpods that
split along six seams. Inside some pods,
winged seeds are held in position by a
system of interlocking tissue that dries
to look like wire dish drainers without
any dishes. Many Aristolochia pods are
beautifully ornamental, and look like
inverted lacy parasols left over from 1930s
Busby Berkeley musical extravaganzas.
Goetzea elegans is a small tree found
only in Puerto Rico. In the tomato family,
its fruit is a strikingly pretty orange berry
containing several small, irregularly
shaped seeds in a juicy flesh. Little is
known about the endangered tree except
that only three populations, with
fewer than 50 trees, remain.
20 THE TROPICAL Garden
Once we knew it as Mimusops caffra,
but today it goes by Mimusops coriacea
(Manilkara bidentata), a cousin to wild
dilly and sapodilla. M. coriacea fruits
are round yellow berries, containing
one or two seeds, which are a beautiful
mahogany brown to black. Agoutis
(rainforest rodents from Central and South
America that resemble large guinea pigs)
or large birds disperse the seeds or they
remain not far from the tree.
Fruit of Clusia rosea is a spherical
capsule that ripens to split along several
seams into seven to nine sections.
Yellow seeds, when fully ripe, are
surrounded by red arils. From the
lower Florida Keys, Central and South
America as well as the West Indies, the
tree is a hemiepiphyte, meaning it starts
in the canopy of another tree, sending
long roots down to the soil.
Areca catechu is the betel nut chewed
by Bloody Mary in the musical “South
Pacific.” For people too young to
remember that wonderful musical, there
are more contemporary references to
chewing betel nuts in Papau New Guinea
and other islands, where the nut meat
combined with lime “makes a fellow
quite mellow,” and gives him red teeth.
A handsome palm, Areca catechu grows
throughout the tropical Pacific and can
be at home in South Florida, provided
the winters are not too harsh.
Ylang ylang, Cananga odorata, holds
axillary clusters of green fruits as well
as greenish yellow to yellow flowers at
the same time. Fruits contain six to 12
seeds. A pioneer species, the ylang ylang
is prized for the aromatic flowers and is
grown commercially for perfume.
Birds, bats and monkeys in
Indo-Malaysia eat the seeds.
What’s
Blooming
this summer
By Marilyn Griffiths
Photos by Susan Ford-Collins and Marilyn Griffiths
It has been eight years since the Lisa D. Anness South Florida Butterfly
Garden was inaugurated at Fairchild. It was a wonder to watch zebra longwings, julias,
hairstreaks and sulphurs flocking to find their favorite nectar and host plants immediately
following the exhibit installation. Over the years, the South Florida Butterfly Garden
has changed as plants have grown or as we have learned of new plants that attract other
butterflies. But the basic nature of this enchanted space has not changed: It is still
a magical haven for our delicate, brightly colored flying gems.
The list below is a small representation of the
plants found in the South Florida Butterfly Garden.
They are but a few of what you’ll find blooming
during the summer.
Callicarpa americana is native
from Florida to Texas and the
West Indies. Its delicate pink
flowers provide nectar for
many species of butterflies.
Birds are attracted to the
brilliant purple fruit, making
this shrub very popular with wildlife.
Lantana involucrata is native
through a wide range, from
peninsular Florida through
Central America, the West
Indies and South America, all
the way to the Galapagos. It’s a
shrub with fragrant, gray-green
leaves and white or pink flowers with a yellow center.
The fragrance of the flowers draws many different
types of butterflies, from tiny skippers to swallowtails.
When crushed, the leaves emit an unusual fragrance.
From my experience, this fragrance varies between
plants—from a soapy smell to the aroma of sage.
A very familiar plant in the
landscape, Pentas lanceolata,
is actually native from
Ethiopia to Mozambique,
the Comoros Islands and the
Arabian Peninsula. It has
been hybridized many times
to produce various shades of red, pink and white
flowers. Our native butterflies love the nectar
despite its foreign origins.
Monarch on Asclepias
curassavica
The red-flowered tropical
sage, Salvia coccinea, not
only draws butterflies to its
nectar—it also has the perfect
shape and color to attract
hummingbirds. This native of
the southeastern United States
and tropical Americas provides a vivid splash of
scarlet amid the foliage.
Senna polyphylla, desert
senna, is native to Puerto
Rico, Hispaniola and the
Virgin Islands. Sulphur
butterflies use the plant as
a host for their larvae. Pale
yellow flowers camouflage
the butterflies and, when disturbed, it appears that
the flowers are lifting off into the air.
Calotropis gigantea (shown)
and Asclepias curassavica are
two plants in our Butterfly
Garden that attract monarchs
to their nectar and provide
the proper diet of leaf material
for their larvae. Don’t be
surprised to see leafless stems—it means the
monarch larvae have had a delicious meal! Neither
plant is native to Florida, but again, this doesn’t
matter to the monarchs.
There is a nationwide effort to provide nectar and
host plants for the monarch butterfly, which is
threatened by disease and habitat disruption.
Visitors to Fairchild can obtain a plot map of
the Garden, which includes a list of currently
flowering plants, at the Shehan Visitor Center, the
South Entrance Gate and the information kiosks
located throughout the Garden. Volunteers at
the Visitor Center information desk also have a
complete list of Fairchild’s plants.
Our website is an invaluable resource for Garden
information, including lists of plants with their
locations—organized by both common and
scientific names—a downloadable map of the
Garden with plot numbers and a resource of
blooming plants for each month.
Visit www.fairchildgarden.org to find all
this, plus information about gardening,
horticulture, conservation and plant
science, as well as information about all
of Fairchild’s exhibits.
summer 2014
23
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AT FAIRCHILD
IS ANYTHING BUT SLOW!
By Kenneth Setzer
There’s lots more to do during the
summer. Here are just a few activities
you can find at Fairchild.
The International Mango Festival is one of our biggest celebrations. On
July 12 and 13, join us for an exploration of the king of tropical fruits. You
can learn how to cook with mangos and how to grow them, plus take part
in mango tasting (did you know there are more than 600 varieties?). Trees
carefully selected by our curators will also be available for purchase.
Most of our events have activities for kids, but if your kids really want
to dig in deep, Fairchild Summer Camp is the way to go! We offer two
options: KoolScience and Junior Naturalist. Both options will introduce
your child to the wonders of nature and the world of science. It’s the
perfect way to make learning fun.
On weekends, stroll through the Garden and discover new spots through
a self-discovery walk, or explore butterflies and their host plants on our
guided South Florida Butterfly Gardening tour, which starts at the Shehan
Visitor Center every Saturday and Sunday.
Volunteers will be waiting for you at the Rainforest, where every Saturday
and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. you can hear interesting stories
about the plants and animals that inhabit this diverse ecosystem.
On selected weekends, learn how to create your own edible garden at home
and enjoy interpretative talks on the unique plants housed in the Tropical
Plant Conservatory and Rare Plant House. For walking tour details, please
remember to check the website at www.fairchildgarden.org/walkingtours
and inquire at the Visitor Center’s information desk upon arrival.
Every weekend, fresh smoothies from fruit harvested at The Fairchild Farm
will be available for purchase in The Edible Garden. On select weekends,
expert volunteers will offer tours of The Edible Garden.
Stroll through the Wings of the Tropics exhibit to be amazed and captivated
by its incredible landscape, flowering plants and hummingbirds, plus the
stars of the show: thousands of tropical butterflies.
summer 2014
25
Anolis sagrei
Anolis carolinensis
How You Can
garden
anoles
Encourage and Protect Your
By Mike Freedman
A
s Garden residents, it’s hard to beat our daytime
lizards, the anoles. They eat insects—great for
us—and are highly entertaining to watch, as they
display, chase and gobble unwary cockroaches. In South
Florida, you’re likely to see four species, each with a
particular preferred habitat, special appearance
and behavior:
Anolis carolinensis
Our only native anole. Sometimes called “green anole,”
“Carolina anole” or “chameleon” (it’s definitely not a
true chameleon), its color ranges from various shades of
brown to bright green and it has a pink dewlap (throat
pouch). Look for this anole on something elevated—a
wall, a fence, a tree trunk—and, rarely, on the ground.
26 THE TROPICAL Garden
My favorite anole. This is the “Cuban brown anole” or
“brown anole.” It’s our liveliest and most-often-seen
anole, and as its common name implies, an import
from our island neighbor. Its colors range from tan to
dark brown, usually with a diamond pattern, plus a
dewlap that is red with white or black spots. You will
see this anole scooting across the sidewalk or sitting
on your front steps. Occasionally, they’ll climb onto
something, maybe to see and hear you better.
Anolis equestris
Our largest anole (12 inches or longer, including tail).
Sometimes called “knight anole,” “Cuban knight anole”
or “Cuban anole,” it’s another Cuban import. This one
can range in color from dark brown to bright green,
with a yellow shoulder stripe and a pink dewlap.
Except when falling out of them, they spend all their
time in trees.
Anolis distichus
Our fastest anole. A. distichus has been listed as
emigrating from various nearby islands. The common
name for this anole is “bark anole,” probably because
it blends so well with tree bark. Its range of colors goes
from light gray to almost black, sometimes with darker
chevrons, accented by a yellow-green dewlap. You’ll
almost never find bark anoles on the ground. Look for
them standing out from tree trunks. They move in bursts
of speed; they can run, but they don’t know how to walk.
Help Anoles Help You
I shouldn’t have to do much selling to convince
homeowners that anoles are just about the greatest
things you can have in your garden. Don’t worry about
feeding them—they’ll dine on your unwanted insects,
but when it’s been dry for a long period, you might
consider spraying some water on your bushes. Thirsty
anoles will run over to lick up water drops on leaves.
Try to discourage predators, such as cats and terriers.
Consider establishing a safe area that will be difficult
for pet predators to access. Here are a few more small
things that you can do to protect these helpful creatures:
Mowing
Anoles like to hunt a few feet out from their “safe
zones” of bushes and plant beds. Often, a mower
can cut them off (literally) from that safe zone. If, just
before mowing, you can walk the edges of plant beds,
a couple of feet out, you will scare the anoles back
into their bushy safe zones. In summer, tiny hatchlings
might need a helping hand to reach safety.
Fun with Anoles
Anolis distichus.
Photo by Kenneth Setzer/FTBG
Indoors
Anoles cannot survive in your house. Your dog may
be able to drink from the big porcelain water bowl,
but it is inaccessible to anoles. Be humane and show
them the way out. Should you see lizards on your
wall at night, they are probably geckoes. Geckoes are
generally able to survive fine inside houses; a bonus:
They eat insects!
Walking and cycling
You’ve probably been surprised and irritated by
lizards that dart out in front of your foot or bike tire.
This is the same situation that we saw with mowing.
Anoles go out onto the sidewalks and may even cross
the sidewalk to look for insects and socialize. When
cycling, I try to go slowly in zones with heavy anole
traffic. If you’re walking, try slowing down when
you pass bushes and keep to the side without bushes
when possible. That should give anoles time to get
back to their safe zones.
Eggs
Anoles lay eggs in spring and summer. The eggs are,
well, egg-shaped and generally about a quarter inch
across (A. equestris eggs are about an inch across).
They’re white and rubbery, like small oblong rubber
balls. Eggs are laid in the upper half inch of soil and
leaf matter. You might encounter them in summer,
when weeding or even when working with potted
plants. The best thing to do is to rebury them to
about the same depth as they were buried by the
female anole.
Anoles are about the most entertaining animals you
can have in your garden. They play and catch insects.
They don’t have any of those hairy or pointy parts that
insects have. They have good eyes and seem to hear
well. Just sitting and staying still near bushes can be
fun. If you’re very still, anoles might eventually see
you as some sort of oddly shaped tree and decide to
climb on your shoe. This can be fun for kids with lots
of patience. Less patience is required to view sleeping
anoles. An hour after dark or before dawn, go out with
a flashlight and look at some of the lower horizontal
leaves on shrubs. You’re likely to see anoles stretched
out, immobile, with their eyes closed.
It’s also possible to arrange a nice meal for anoles,
with either of their two favorite foods: cockroaches
or maggots. The procedure is the same for either.
Take a piece of cardboard or a garbage can lid with
roaches or maggots on it and toss it onto an open
space, like a patio. As the insects emerge, watch the
anoles come running over for the banquet.
The last fun activity is to have an anole sit on your
hand. Kids should love this one, but care is needed.
This is best done in summer, when there are lots
of baby anoles in the grass. You can put one hand
on the ground near the anole and encourage it to
go toward that hand by moving your other hand in
the grass. If done right, you’ll guide the lizard right
onto your hand. It’s best not to try to grab lizards, in
general. Their tails come off easily and that can really
traumatize kids, but you could take this opportunity
to explain that it’s normal, the tail grows back and
coming off allows the lizard to escape predators.
Anoles—they’re a bit of wild nature that has taken up
residence in our gardens to engage in insect cleanup
and provide pleasure for us in the process.
Anolis equestris
Anolis sagrei
Photo by Kenneth Setzer/FTBG
NANCYBATCHELOR
305 903 2850
WWW.NANCYBATCHELOR.COM
Fairchild magazine_Feb.14.indd 1
1/15/14 5:26 PM
plant collections
Fairchild’s world-renowned
Cycad Collection
By Marilyn Griffiths
Fairchild’s cycad collection is one of the world’s most
extensive, on par with our palm collection. Palms and
cycads, though sometimes similar in appearance, are very
different and not closely related plants.
M
cycad genera Ceratozamia, Chigua, Dioon,
Microcycas and Zamia. Encephalartos and
Stangeria are found in Africa. One species
of Cycas is found in a small area of Kenya,
but it is believed that it was brought there
sometime in the last 1,000 years. All
other Cycas species are from Australia,
Asia and Malesia. At Fairchild we have
representatives of all genera except Chigua.
any of our cycads were
donated to the Garden in its
early years by our founder,
Col. Robert Montgomery.
Since then, numerous species from
around the world have been added to the
collection, making it an invaluable resource
for scientists studying this fascinating order
of rare plants and for visitors appreciating
their unusual and primitive beauty.
Cycads are gymnosperms, along with
conifers and gingko, meaning they are not
among the flowering plants (angiosperms).
They are dioecious (plants are either male
or female) and reproduce by developing
a cone containing seeds. Some cones
can become very large—a foot or more
in length—and many are bright red,
orange or yellow. Sometimes called “fossil
plants,” cycads were abundant throughout
the world more than 200 million years
ago. Now reduced in range and number,
cycads comprise 250 species, compared
to flowering plants’ 300,000 species.
Used as ornamentals, cycads can be a
beautiful part of the landscape. But taking
plants from the wild for this purpose has
threatened the existence of many species.
For instance, only male plants of the
African species Encephalartos woodii
remain in the wild. The Florida native
cycad, Zamia integrifolia—the coontie—
was almost collected out of existence
when pioneer settlers gathered plants
Dioon edule
from the wild for their starch-producing
businesses. Fortunately, conservation
efforts have prevented the loss of this
incredible plant, the only known host
for our native atala butterfly. Today, all
cycads are covered by the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
All cycads have toxins in every part of
the plant. Animals grazing on them suffer
severe symptoms and possible death.
Proper processing of the plant material,
such as boiling the coontie root for starch,
is essential if it’s going to be consumed.
Cycads can be found globally in tropical
and subtropical climates with moderate to
high rainfall. The Americas are home to the
The oldest plant at Fairchild is a cycad:
Dioon edule. One Dioon edule (found in
the Cycad Circle) made a circuitous path
from Edinburgh, Scotland, to Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, to Naples, Florida, and finally
was donated to Fairchild in 1940. One leg
of its journey is unknown: How did it get
from its native Mexico to Scotland in the
first place? When purchased in Scotland
in 1867 it was reputed to be at least 100
years old. It still thrives in Plot 124 of
Cycad Circle.
A few of the more tropical Zamia species
must be protected from South Florida’s
mildly chilly winter temperatures. They can
be found in the Tropical Plant Conservatory,
where they flourish and reproduce.
Look for our other magnificent cycads in
the Montgomery Palmetum, Cycad Circle
(Plot 124) and the Cycad Vista. These
ancient, sturdy plants can remind us of
how recently we humans have occupied
the planet and the need to preserve our
natural history.
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The Call
of the Wild
The rebirth of the mango
By Noris Ledesma and Richard J. Campbell, Ph.D.
PREVIOUS PAGE
Wild mangos are generally restricted
to the wet tropical lowlands below
450 m elevation, frequently in
inundated areas, along riverbanks.
It is common to find it cultivated in
villages in Borneo.
LEFT
Collection and domestication has
been a long and complex process
but has really only just begun. At
the Fairchild Farm, wild mangos are
isolated in a cage to create a new
generation of mangos for the future.
Photo by Noris Ledesma/FTBG
We, as residents of South Florida, lay claim to the
mango. Regardless of its Asian origin and pan—
tropical distribution, the mango belongs to us.
E
ach year, we care for our trees and await the
harvest. Each year we face challenges, with
nature seemingly pitted against the crop, but
summer eventually arrives and so, too, does
the mango. Yes, the mango comes through
for us. We shaped the fruit into our Western
ways, poked and prodded until it was exactly what
we wanted and was something we could exploit for
income. It is ours.
Dr. David Fairchild was the mastermind behind the
transformation of the mango from a traditional Asian
fruit to a marvel of modern fruit growing. More than
a century ago, he had an innovative vision for the
mango that has paved the way for the introduction
of hundreds of cultivated varieties from around the
globe into South Florida. He and a handful of mango
pioneers assured the mango’s propagation and care
and facilitated its cross breeding and the selection of
superior progeny. This long road of vision and science
32 THE TROPICAL Garden
has led us to the point we are at today. All around
us, we have mangos big and small, red and yellow,
sweet and sour and truly amazing. All of this mango
diversity and delicious economic potential came from
a thorough shuffling of the genetic deck, a keen eye
and an undying tenacity.
We are now more than a century removed from the
innovative work of David Fairchild, and the mango
is in need of another makeover. A host of old and
new pests and diseases nip at the mango’s heels. The
climate, ever-changing, challenges the mango each
year. We are nervous, even desperate to intervene,
but surely we should not submit to the chem-agro
mindset of mango growing to be successful. What
of our green future and that of our children? No, we
must be strong in our convictions and in our science.
We must take a step back in the genetic sense to
move forward into the next millennium.
Unlocking the Potential
of the Wild Mango
So onward we go into the forests of Borneo and
Southeast Asia to learn of, and cultivate, the wild
mangos that grow there. These 70 or so edible species
offer adaptability to the most inhospitable of mango
climates. Each is genetically distinct from the cultivated
mango that we all know. Each has its own name
among the tribal people who rely upon them. They
range from huge to tiny in fruit size and burst forth in a
dizzying array of colors, shapes and flavors. They grow
in swamps and at higher altitudes throughout Southeast
Asia and are a staple for man and beast alike. Yet,
these wild relatives of the cultivated mango remain
largely a mystery, with little understanding of their
cultivation, their propagation or even their genetic
identity. Confusion surrounds the wild mangos around
the globe with many more questions than answers,
but the potential is there; it lays dormant within them.
Now is the time to unlock this potential.
At Fairchild, we grow more than 40 accessions of
wild mango in the living collections, constituting 25
species or more. Prior to these introductions, wild
mangos were represented in South Florida by three
or four recognized species. This handful of species
was made up of multiple duplicate trees of a single
introduction made many years ago by Dr. Fairchild.
Other introductions of wild mangos had been
attempted in the past, but they were unsuccessful,
leading mango pundits—including David Fairchild—
to the conclusion that the vast majority of wild
mangos would not adapt to South Florida. We have
spent the last 25 years attempting to disprove this
commonly held belief. We have had some success
and much failure. Forty trees may not seem like much
of a track record for 25 years of collecting, but there
is no script available to go by. Identification, location,
collection, propagation and care in the field have
been done without a template, and yet here these trees
grow, bloom and fruit, swaying in the ocean breezes.
So, how does this winding story relate to our
backyards and commercial orchards in South Florida
and the Americas? As we pen this article, we have
new crossbreeds hanging from our caged trees at
Fairchild. These crosses will be among the first
between wild mangos and some of our high-yielding,
most-modern mango cultivars. The seeds within these
fruit hold the future—a future without concern about
untimely rains, without the application of costly
fungicides and with novel new fruit.
We will plant these seeds and nurture the saplings
until they bear their sweet fruit. We will select new
superior specimens that have disease tolerance,
high production and the ability to adapt to our everchanging climate. The road is a long one, by no
means easy or guaranteed, but each journey begins
with a single step. Our journey started back in 1889
with David Fairchild and there is much road left to
travel. His legacy depends on us, and so, too, the very
future of the mango.
Binjae (Mangifera caesia): The
white flesh mango. In Malaysia,
this is one of the most common
and valuable mango species. It
is used to make the traditional
dishes ‘sambal’ and ‘jeruk’ and
eaten with fish.
Photo by Noris Ledesma/FTBG
summer 2014
33
Message
ck
lene
in a Bo’stt
Journey Revealed
The Mango
through History and Genetics
By Emily Warschefsky
Its introduction into the Americas
and its spread around the world may
have decreased the mango’s genetic
diversity. But now, Fairchild scientists
are helping conserve mangos’ genetic
diversity around the world.
M
angos are grown on every continent
except Antarctica, and everywhere
they are grown, they are wildly
popular—so much so that many
people in the Americas are surprised to learn that
the mango is native to South Asia, and was only
introduced to the New World during the last 300
years. How did the “King of Fruits” spread from its
homeland in South Asia to countries as far away as
Colombia? Historical records can help us trace the
migration of the mango.
The mango is considered native to the foothills of the
Himalayas, in the region of modern-day northeast
India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Based on
cultural artifacts, it is estimated that the mango has
been cultivated in that region of the world for more
than 4,000 years. The mango is significant to many
religions of South Asia, particularly Hinduism and
Buddhism, and it is said that Buddha himself was
given a grove of mango trees under which to rest and
meditate. Buddhist monks likely began to introduce
the mango into Southeast Asia during the third
century B.C.
More than a millennium passed before the mango
began its journey westward out of India, making its
way to east Africa through Persian trade routes during
the 10th century. During the 1500s, Portuguese
traders spread the mango to their colonies throughout
Africa. The mango reached the shores of the
Americas only in the early 1700s, brought to Brazil
by the Portuguese. From there, it spread into the
Caribbean during the middle of the century.
The Spanish first introduced the mango to Acapulco,
Mexico during the late 1700s, bringing it across the
Pacific Ocean from Manila, in what was then the
Spanish East Indies (and is now the Philippines).
Shortly thereafter, Caribbean mangos were
Mangos found their way to the sandy beaches
of the Caribbean during the 1700s.
Photo by Emily Warschefsky/FTBG
introduced to eastern Mexico. The first records of
mangos in Florida do not appear until 1833, though
it is likely that the ‘Turpentine’ mango—named
after its characteristic acrid flavor—had already
been introduced by that time. In 1889, Dr. David
Fairchild, working for the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, brought the first grafted Indian varieties
back to South Florida. Although the mango took
its time getting here, it was not long until our local
mango industry began to make its mark, producing
cultivars that, even today, are some of the most
popular in the world.
While historical documents allow us to piece
together a rough timeline of the mango’s migration
around the world, the impact that this series of
introductions had on the mango’s genetic diversity is
a fundamental question that remains unanswered.
The extent to which a crop has lost genetic diversity
over time is of interest to agriculturists and scientists
alike. During the process of domestication, crops
lose genetic diversity, as a few individuals with
summer 2014
35
Crop genetic diversity has been lost
Wild species
High diversity
Traditional crops
Moderate diversity
Domestication
Bottleneck
Modern crops
Low diversity
Migration and
Breeding Bottleneck
Human selection for certain traits
during domestication results in a
loss of genetic diversity, called a
genetic bottleneck. Subsequent
migration and breeding for “elite”
varieties further reduces crop
species’ diversity. Such dramatic
decreases in diversity limit the
ability of breeders to produce
varieties that can survive disease
and environmental stressors.
D.H. Kim, R.K. Varshney, E.J. von Wettberg,
E. Warschefsky
valued traits are favored during each successive
generation. This primary loss of diversity is often
exacerbated by the introduction of a small number
of individuals into new regions of the world for
cultivation. This erosion of diversity, called a
“genetic bottleneck,” can result in the unintentional
loss of beneficial traits such as disease resistance and
tolerance to harsh environmental conditions.
Much of our current understanding of the diversity of
crops comes from research focused on annual plants
like grains and legumes. Perennial species like the
mango have some built-in mechanisms that may help
to reduce the genetic bottleneck they incur during
domestication and subsequent introductions. Unlike
annual plants, long-lived species usually take many
years to reach reproductive age when planted from
seed. Therefore, perennial species have been under
cultivation for far fewer generations than annual
species. Because the weeding out of individuals
with less-desirable traits can only happen every
generation, long-lived species have experienced less
selection, and are more likely to have maintained
higher levels of their original genetic diversity. In
addition, perennial species often require pollination
by another, genetically distinct, individual in order
to set fruit, thereby promoting the mixing of genes. In
contrast, the ability of annual species to self-pollinate
can be exploited to create “true-breeding” lines
of seed, which, though agriculturally useful, have
decreased genetic diversity.
Today, industrialized agriculture is trending toward
the selection of “elite” modern varieties that are
broadly distributed and grown in monoculture—the
practice of cultivating a single crop grown in a wide
area for many consecutive years. As this practice
expands across the globe, unique regional varieties
FIU/Fairchild graduate student Emily Warschefsky extracts DNA from
mango leaves collected at the Fairchild Farm. The first step: using liquid
nitrogen to freeze the leaves, then crushing them to a fine powder.
and cultivars are being lost, and domesticated species
continue to lose valuable genetic diversity that
could be key to crop improvement efforts. In order
to preserve the diversity of a crop like the mango,
scientists need a basic understanding of the crop’s
current diversity. Using this information, geographic
regions that harbor high levels of diversity can be
identified and prioritized for conservation.
Researchers at Fairchild and Florida International
University are analyzing DNA from the hundreds
of mango cultivars grown at Fairchild, which
originate from across the globe. This will help
identify geographic regions with high mango genetic
diversity, and help address the issue of a loss of
genetic diversity during the fruit’s introduction
into the Americas. This work will help us better
understand the unique past, the current status and
the bright future of the mango, one of the world’s
most important fruit crops.
Emily Warschefsky is a Ph.D. student in the joint graduate program at Fairchild and Florida International University. Under
the supervision of Dr. Eric von Wettberg, and in collaboration with Fairchild’s tropical fruit program, she is researching the
evolution and domestication of the mango. She received her B.A. in biology from Reed College (Portland, Oregon) in 2009,
and served as a graduate assistant for The Fairchild Challenge during the 2013-14 program year.
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Living where others dare not
Plants of the
desert
Text and photos
by Kenneth Setzer
t
here are thousands of plants
that have adapted to the driest,
hottest places on Earth; their
forms are both revealing and beautiful.
I ventured to the Mojave Desert last
April and got to explore Red Rock
Canyon National Conservation Area
outside Las Vegas, while on the
way to Death Valley National Park
in California. During my travels, I
learned that if you look closely, life
abounds in the desert, including
explosions of wildflowers after spring
rains. Just remember to look down,
since many desert plants are small.
Botanizing in the desert can lead to
unexpected rewards—Death Valley
alone harbors more than 1,000 plant
species, including more than 50
endemics that grow only there.
Joshua tree
Yucca brevifolia
A Mojave Desert icon with its own National Park, the Joshua tree was
much more widespread immediately after the last ice age; its range has
been shrinking ever since. Global warming may decrease it further, and
the tree may be unable to migrate to cooler areas without an animal
believed to have once eaten and dispersed its seeds: the extinct giant
Shasta ground sloth.
1
2
1. Desert globemallow
Sphaeralcea ambigua
This desert perennial grows to about three feet tall, and
contributes dozens of apricot-orange cupped flowers
along its inflorescences. They seem to glow from within.
2. Desert fivespot
Eremalche rotundifolia
A desert annual, the desert fivespot has rounded, almost
kidney-shaped leaves on dull red stems that nearly hug
the ground in open, sandy areas. Before the flower
opens, it resembles a pink globe, lit up by the desert sun.
Each of its five petals sports a red spot on its inside base.
3. Beavertail cactus
Opuntia basilaris
TOP: A desert bee aiding in beavertail cactus pollination
BOTTOM: This is a congener (in the same genus) of the
eastern prickly pear we see in Florida. The beavertail has
no spines—only short, barbed bristles called glochids.
(Our eastern prickly pear has both spines and glochids,
as many hikers can attest.) The beavertail’s flowers
are arrestingly beautiful, adding shocks of fuchsia and
magenta to an otherwise dun-colored ground.
4. Creosote bush
Larrea tridentata
This champion of survival—pictured here in Death
Valley’s Mesquite Flats sand dunes—is so efficient at
extracting water from the soil that most plants can’t grow
nearby, but some annuals like Phacelia species will
grow in its shade. Older creosotes die out in their center,
but continue to grow, eventually producing a ring. The
oldest known creosote ring, “King Clone,” has been
dated to almost 12,000 years old. Creosote produces
hundreds of small yellow flowers followed by round,
fuzzy, white seedpods.
40 THE TROPICAL Garden
4
3
5. Acton brittlebush
Encelia actoni
A California and Nevada native, this compact bush is
a member of the large Asteraceae family. The solitary
butter-yellow flowers catch the breeze a couple feet
off the desert floor. Here it poses against an Aztec
sandstone backdrop in Red Rock Canyon.
6. Chaparral dodder
Cuscuta californica
Many desert bushes are covered with an orange,
filament-like material. It’s this parasitic vine, dependent
on its host for nutrients and water. Though native, it’s
considered a noxious weed. It’s at least oddly intriguing.
7. Arrowweed
Pluchea sericea
Devil’s Cornfield in Death Valley is a flat, open plain
spotted with arrowweed, a bush that starts out as a
grouping of straight, vertical stems with leaves bunched
towards the top. As it grows, soil and sand gather
at its base. In response, the plant grows taller, thus
accumulating even more windblown soil. Plants can
reach 12 feet or higher and look like stacked corn stalks.
8. Hollyleaf gilia
Gilia latiflora
Getting up close pays off. This California endemic’s
delicate purple flowers with white throats seem out of
place in a harsh rock garden, yet it thrives.
5
6
7
8
10
9
9. Desert trumpet
Eriogonum inflatum
Interesting not so much for its inconspicuous yellow
flowers, desert trumpet produces a nice “basal rosette”
of leaves against the desert floor. More noteworthy, the
stem develops a flattened swelling that serves to increase
photosynthesis. The swelling then tapers, eventually
branching out to the inflorescences.
10. Lilac sunbonnet/spotted langloisia
Langloisia setosissima ssp. punctata
This small bouquet was growing in its own rock
garden. It’s as though the funnel-shaped flowers—with
blue pollen—are trying to stand out from the desert
background. I wonder how they appear to pollinators.
11. Gravel ghost/parachute plant
Atrichoseris platyphylla
These produce a rosette of fleshy, green-spotted leaves
flat against the gravelly desert floor (platyphylla means
“flat leaves”). A single branching stem rises and produces
white flowers with pink-tinged, layered petals—each
with a toothed edge. These plants enjoy tormenting
photographers by incessantly swaying in the breeze,
ghost-like.
12. Brownplume wirelettuce
Stephanomeria pauciflora
This small, shrub-like plant grows in many different
Southwestern habitats, including deserts and woodlands.
In its entirety, it looks fairly uninteresting, but up close I
found scenes like this checkered white butterfly (Pontia
protodice) accessing nectar from a tiny but
attractive flower.
42 THE TROPICAL Garden
11
12
13. Devil’s spineflower
Chorizanthe rigida
Common, but quite small, low and easily obscured,
this plant’s spikes and spoon-shaped rosette of leaves
surround tiny chartreuse flowers.
14. Mojave desertstar
Monoptilon bellioides
Growing to only two inches tall, this annual wildflower
can carpet bare, rocky areas if it receives sufficient
spring rain. The flowers close by evening, leaving the
hairy green leaves visible.
15. Desert gold poppy
Eschscholzia glyptosperma
This desert poppy produces deep-yellow flowers, but
its foliage is also of interest. It’s often found growing in
washes, and its seeds are buoyant, possibly relying on
floods to disperse. Note the standout fruit: It’s the long,
slender grayish cylinders alongside the flowers.
16. Cleftleaf wildheliotrope
Phacelia crenulata
There are three to five varieties of this fragrant annual.
It grows interspersed in desert washes among rocks and
boulders of orange and brown.
13
14
15
16
It was tough deciding which plants to share here, and there are so many I missed, such
as the Eureka Valley dune grass (Swallenia alexandrae), Eureka Dunes evening primrose
(Oenothera californica ssp. eurekensis) and Eureka Dunes milkvetch (Astragalus
lentiginosus ssp. micans). All three occur nowhere else on Earth, and last February, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommended the first two be removed from the list of
endangered species thanks to their recovery from near extinction. It’s comforting to
know they’ll be there when I go back.
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6790 SW 74 Street
South Miami, FL 33143
edible gardening
An Epiphany in
The Edible Garden
By Richard J. Campbell, Ph.D.
A
n old adage says that you are what you
eat, and at times this concept can be
rather unsettling. Take as an example
the contrast between eating fruits and
vegetables from the local grocery store versus
those from your own home edible garden. To get
to the grocery store, you have to drive or walk
to a glaring, lifeless parking lot. Inside the store
you are struck by the glass, plastic, metal and
cardboard packaging that force order and control
over every inch of food. The fresh produce
section is cold and lifeless as well. There is no
aroma of ripening peaches, no stirring of primal
instincts to devour a ripe mango.
In the edible garden there is life—the fruit and
vegetables that you planted by your own hands
are a living testament to the real world. You walk
through the familiar, shady paths of your backyard.
All is green, full of life and vigor. Life thrives here.
The order of the edible garden is in the disorder of
life, in the ravaged leaves, the verdant asymmetry.
The edible garden is not perfect, and that is what
gives it such power. Here is nature at her best and
worst, full of sweat and sweet reward.
It is within the edible garden that lessons are given
to both young and old. It is a living classroom
managed, but not created, by mankind. One can
learn the value of a dollar, for all around you is
opportunity and challenge, supply and demand.
The summer rains come and cast their evil spells
over the garden tomatoes, leaving one to view the
grocery store version in a different light. How can
they have a seemingly equal product 365 days of
the year? Where do they come from? The edible
garden is both classroom and teacher. The lessons
are numerous and free.
As a professional horticulturist, the edible garden
and the grocery store are the first stops on any
visit I make to a new land. Whether it is central
Iowa or distant India, grocery stores and
backyard gardens offer a snapshot of
local trends. The produce section of the local
grocery store is the meeting place for the
international horticulturist, and out in the
backyards of the towns and countryside I have
come across many a fellow professional.
Some grocery stores, too, have changed with
the times, reaching out to local communities for
products grown closer to home or sponsoring
farmers markets in their parking lots. This is a
good trend and will hopefully continue, but the
story that is told in their aisles remains largely
unchanged due to the need for year-round
supplies and low costs. This consistency within
the grocery store is not bad. Here, we can get
fresh fruit and vegetables around the year. There
is grand diversity and excellent quality if you are
willing to pay the price.
But, as residents of South Florida we have a
unique opportunity to grow and consume our
own fresh produce. In the edible garden there is
no air conditioning. The aromas of the fruits and
vegetables are free to tempt you, acting upon
long-dormant senses. The experience is unique
and unforgettable. Television, computers and
iPhones cannot come close to the feel, taste and
smell of the real deal.
We live in unprecedented economic, social and
climatic times that can be overwhelming. The
edible garden can help to ease that anxiety. We,
as a community, are thinking more about local
agriculture and community gardening. These are
wonderful activities that nourish both the body
and the soul. Remember that you are what you
eat. Keep on gardening and producing for your
own table. Embrace your community, and of
course, eat your veggies!
Preserving
Edible
Orchids
in China
Demand for edible,
medicinal orchids in
China has put many
species in peril. But
a new conservation
approach may help
save them.
By Hong Liu, Ph.D.
Orchids are edible? Yes.
In Chinese culture, the boundary between
food and medicine is often blurry, and this
is the case with medicinal orchids.
C
hina has a 2,000-plus-year tradition of
using orchid species as herbal medicines
or health food supplements. Some 350
species—a quarter of the total Chinese
orchid species—are used in traditional
Chinese medicine (TCM). Of those, 97 are Chinese
endemics. Here are some examples of traditional
and modern-day uses of these edible orchids:
Previous page
A beautiful blooming
Dendrobium catenatum, or
Tie Pi Shi Hu.
BELOW
Dendrobium display, shot
through a shop window
in Singapore.
Photo by Carl Lewis/FTBG
Gastrodia elata Blume, (天麻 in Chinese,
pronounced as “Tian Ma”) is a perennial orchid
that is saprophytic—it obtains nutrients from dead
organic matter. It is one of the most prominent
traditional Chinese herbal medicines, and has been
used for more than 2,000 years in the treatment
of headache, vertigo, hemiplegia (paralysis of one
side of the body) and infantile convulsions. The
underground tuber is used; traditionally, it is often
mixed in chicken soup, in tea or in sugary water
with the Chinese date (Ziziphus jujuba Mill). For
always-on-the-go modern folks, pills made from the
orchid are available. This orchid frequently shows
up on prescriptions by doctors who practice TCM.
Dendrobium species, (石斛 in Chinese,
pronounced as “Shi Hu”) are epiphytic orchids
(they live on other plants) mostly found in tropical
Asia and the Pacific islands. Around 40 species
of Dendrobium are consumed for various health
purposes in China, many of them plants with showy
flowers. The most prominent of all is Dendrobium
catenatum (铁皮石斛 in Chinese, pronounced as
“Tie Pi Shi Hu”), which is used both in prescribed
medicine and as a health food supplement. Its stem,
and more recently flowers, are consumed directly
as tea or mixed in soup. Its popularity began with its
use as a tonic by traditional vocal artists seeking to
protect their voices. Its use has extended to cancer
prevention and cure, as a boost to the immune
system and to battle other illnesses.
Bletilla striata (白芨 in Chinese, pronounced as
“Bai Ji”) is a ground orchid with showy flowers.
Its underground pseudobulb—a thickened stem at
the base of the growth—is used to ease symptoms
of pulmonary tuberculosis, such as coughing and
internal bleeding. In more recent years, it has also
been used as an ingredient in skin care products.
Other, less-frequently mentioned, edible
orchids include Pleione spp. (山慈菇in Chinese,
pronounced as “Shan Chi Gu”), which is used to
ease fever due to acute tonsillitis and stomatitis.
Another one is Nervilia spp. (青天葵 in Chinese,
pronounced as “Qing Tian Kui”), which is used to
ease symptoms of bronchitis. Interestingly, both
Pleione and Nervilia spp. are popular ornamental
However, wild populations are still susceptible
to collecting pressure, because the products of
artificial cultivation for medicinal use, in contrast to
ornamental orchids, are deemed inferior in quality
as medicine and have a much lower market price
than their wild counterparts.
TOP
A bowl of expensive
soup with Gastrodia elata
pseudobulbs as an ingredient.
BOTTOM
Cleaned and dried
pseudobulbs of
Gastrodia elata, ready
to be cooked in soup.
orchids in the West. A third interesting orchid in this
category is Gymnadenia spp. (手掌参 in Chinese,
pronounced as “Shou Zhang Shen”), used to ease
coughs. Most of these orchids are consumed as
expensive soup dishes in high-end restaurants.
These species are all listed in the 2010 Edition of
the State Pharmacopoeia Commission of P.R. China,
an authoritative encyclopedia on Chinese as well
as accepted western medicine. Wild populations
of these edible orchids are simply unable to keep
up with human demand for them. These uses have
become unsustainable.
When Medicinal Demand Becomes
Unsustainable: The Gastrodia elata
and Dendrobium stories
For more than 2,000 years, G. elata has been a
highly prized orchid in traditional Chinese medicine,
obtained only from wild populations because of a
lack of knowledge on how to artificially propagate
the plants. An unsustainable harvest—more than
90,000 kilograms per year nationwide in the
1950s—prompted a complete, national-scale
collapse of wild G. elata populations in China
during the 1960s. The severity of the situation led to
a comprehensive, state-sponsored study of orchid
mycorrhizae (the fungus involved in the orchid’s
germination) involving G. elata. Nearly two decades
later, this study yielded striking new discoveries:
Orchids like G. elata demand two different fungi—
one at the seed stage and one at the adult stage.
Application of the right fungus at the wrong time
prohibits further development and growth. This
scientific discovery in the 1980s finally enabled
massive artificial cultivation of the orchid, and
allowed some wild populations to bounce back.
Wild G. elata plants are rare and their locations
are guarded as family secrets. For example, when a
colleague of ours needed to verify the existence of
the species in the Yachang Orchid National Nature
Preserve, a newly established protected area in
southwestern China, he was led to a site with a few
plants by a local farmer only after he agreed to be
blindfolded so he would not be able to return.
Other orchid species are also in peril because of
too much medicinal demand. Dendrobium spp. is
another affected orchid: Trade volume of medicinal
Dendrobium reached 600,000 kilograms of fresh
weight annually in the 1980s in China. All of it was
wild gathered, and trade volume has since declined
as natural populations have become exhausted.
This phenomenon can be seen in the limestone
regions of Guizhou and Guangxi, which constitute
China’s main traditional Dendrobium trading
posts. In these regions, the trade volumes of several
county-level markets reached 10,000 to 40,000
kilograms each annually in the 1980s and 1990s.
However, no large-volume trade has been recorded
Artificial cultivation seems to have satisfied most of
the market demand for Dendrobium, presumably
leaving some room for wild populations to recover.
However, these products of artificial cultivation,
like cultivated G. elata, are deemed inferior in
quality and have a much lower market price than
wild counterparts. Also, in China, these mass shade
house operations are not designed for, and do not
have a mechanism for, actively assisting wild
population recovery.
A flowering stalk of the
saprophytic orchid Gastrodia
elata or Tian Ma.
in any of these markets in the late 2000s, and wild
Dendrobium plants available in recent years have
largely come from neighboring Vietnam and Laos.
This insatiable market demand has decimated
accessible Dendrobium resources in China, and has
started to impact wild populations in neighboring
countries. The most devastated Dendrobium
species is D. catenatum. All of its currently known
remaining populations are small and sparsely
distributed. Several pocket populations of this
species that were under investigation suffer from
extremely low pollinator visitation and fruit set,
likely the result of too small of a flowering display,
as only a small number of flowers open in a given
area in any given day during the flowering season.
Motivated by market demands in the face
of depleted natural resources, mass artificial
cultivation of Dendrobium orchids, including D.
catenatum, has been developed recently. This mass
production uses modern in-vitro seed germination
and tissue culture techniques. It is estimated that
artificial cultivation, mostly done in industrial shade
houses, currently covers around 500 hectares of
area and produces orchids with a total market value
of $39 billion.
50 THE TROPICAL Garden
Other traditional methods of plant species
conservation also have not been effective in
combatting wild population decimation within
China. For instance, while the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora prevents horticultural trading of
all orchid species between nations, this problem is
largely a Chinese domestic one. The establishment
of protected areas has mitigated impacts of orchid
habitat deterioration and loss, but high-stakes, highvalue species such as these medicinal orchids are
vulnerable to poaching in Chinese nature reserves,
which are under-funded and under-staffed. In
addition, under-educated rangers sometimes turn
into poachers themselves.
Cultivation for Restoration and Use:
A New Approach to Conservation
All these factors call for alternative conservation
strategies for these heavily exploited orchid species
in China. One new mode, known as restorationfriendly cultivation, takes advantage of the epiphytic
trait of the medicinal Dendrobium orchids and
reintroduces and/or augments them in natural
forests. This unconventional mode of endangered
species reintroduction allows for sustainable
harvesting to address concerns of poaching and
the local economy in and around nature reserves.
Because Dendrobium orchids are epiphytic,
restoration-friendly cultivation of these species
will not be at the expense of other native plants.
In addition, market premiums on wild-collected
medicinal plants generate incentives for farmers
who participate in restoration-friendly cultivation to
preserve natural forests. Implemented properly, we
may just be able to eat our orchids and have them
for the future, too.
what’s in store
It’s All About Mangos!
By Erin Fitts
Photos by Rey Longchamp
Fruits of Warm Climates
By Julia Morton, $69.95, softcover
or $129.95, hardcover.
New, reprinted versions of the classic
bestseller provide comprehensive botanical
and horticultural information about a wide
range of tropical fruit-bearing plants.
The Great Mango Book
By Chef Allen Susser, $17.99.
Renowned chef Allen Susser shows 50
delicious ways to serve up this delicious
fruit in recipes such as mango lassi,
green mango chutney and shrimp
wand mango curry.
Guide to the Mangos of the World
By Dr. Richard Campbell and
Noris Ledesma, $6.95.
Fairchild’s authors have compiled an
identification brochure for mangos of the world,
including information on the height and fruiting
season for each of the 90 cultivars listed.
The Clases at Fairchild
Interested in photography?
Curious about cooking or crafts?
Dreaming of drawing or painting?
Time to get your garden growing?
Classes at Fairchild July through December
course catalog, available online, offers a variety
of classes on everything from art and cuisine to
photography, iPhoneography, horticulture and
so much more!
To register and see the
complete class offerings visit
www.fairchildgarden.org/Classes
fairchild tropical botanic garden
Bromeliads, oil on canvas. Giselle Kovac.
advertisement
Have Orchids Delivered
Twelve issues of Orchids magazine (print and/or digital format)
U.S. Individual — one year $65 • U.S. Joint — one year $80
Access to special “members’ only” educational opportunities and more
Email:
TheAOS@AOS.org
For American Orchid Society membership information and benefits,
please go to www.aos.org or call the membership office at 305-740-2010.
insurance | retirement | investments*
fulfilling life
For your life insurance, long-term care and
disability income insurance needs contact:
Thomas Keane
Associate
The Miami Agency
2655 LeJeune Road, Penthouse II
Coral Gables, FL 33134
P: 305-442-4623, ext. 46
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through Thomas Keane or The Miami Agency that are not offered through AIC. Securities e-mail: tkeane@aicinvest.com
The
Pollen
Factor
By David Hardy
T
he image of a beautiful butterfly landing on a flower
and uncoiling its long proboscis as it probes for and
sucks nectar out of the flower’s depths is one we
are all familiar with. But nectar is not the only food
source for butterflies. Almost anything juicy and in liquid form
can be on the menu. Butterflies have very diverse food sources,
including rotting fruit, pollen, dung, diluted minerals and tree
sap. Some butterfly species use one food source exclusively
while others are more adventurous. And yes, some butterflies
will even sip on blood, sweat and tears.
At the Wings of the Tropics exhibit in The Clinton Family
Conservatory, we supply our butterflies with the finer—and more
visually and odorously pleasing—butterfly
cuisines and focus on three main food sources.
The most popular is, of course, nectar from
the many species of flowers we have in
constant bloom, and on which the majority of
butterflies feed. Flitting from one flower to the
next, different species of butterflies will feed
on nectar with their wings folded, open or
pumping furiously (like those in the swallowtail
family). Nectar is loaded with sugars and
contains amino acids.
Owl and Morpho
butterflies congregate on
a fruit feeding station.
Photo by David Hardy
Next on the menu is the delicious spread of
overripe fruit that butterflies such as the blue
and white morphos, the entire owl butterfly
group and many of the leaf wing butterflies
prefer to feed on. Banana, papaya, mango,
black sapote, canistel, star fruit and sapodilla
are some of their tropical fruit favorites. Nonacidic and mushy fruits are preferred. The
butterflies gather around the decorative fruit
displays laid out on tree stumps in large groups,
happily probing and sucking up sugars and
nutrients from the rapidly rotting fruit—the
more fermented the better!
Last but not least on the menu, we supply one genus of
butterfly with the elixir of their lives—pollen. These are the only
butterflies that can harvest and process pollen for the nitrogen,
amino acids and minerals that are contained within each
nutrient-packed grain. These are the family of famously fluttering
Heliconius butterflies species.
Two plant species provide the main source of pollen for the
heliconid butterflies at the Wings of the Tropics: Psiguria sp. and
Gurania sp., which are both in the Cucurbitaceae (cucumber)
family of plants. These vines, which are native to Central and
54 THE TROPICAL Garden
South America, can be found on the two pergolas by the Jason
Vollmer Butterfly Metamorphosis Laboratory and near the exit
vestibule, as well as on the recently added low pergola, across
from the Glasshouse Café. At these pergolas, you can see
Heliconius feeding on nectar and pollen and protecting their
flowers from other butterflies trying to share this most valuable
food source.
The vines themselves are very interesting: As they grow vertically
upwards, and for a while as they grow horizontally, they produce
only male flowers, which are loaded with pollen and borne on
long stems. However, as soon as the vine drops downwards, it
produces all female flowers, from which fruits ultimately form.
The female flowers are short-stemmed and
nectar-rich, enticing the butterfly to fertilize
the flower with the grains of pollen stuck to
its proboscis while it feeds on the nectar. The
mixture of pollen and nectar releases amino
acids that the butterfly then sucks up through
its straw-like proboscis.
Heliconius ismenius, Tiger
Heliconian, collecting pollen from
Jatropha integerrima Peregrina.
Photo by Susan Ford-Collins
Pollen feeding has many advantages for
the Heliconius butterflies. Since no other
butterfly species feed on pollen (though
many other insects, reptiles, birds and
mammals do) and pollen is so abundant and
easy to obtain, the butterfly is guaranteed a
meal at almost all times. This is especially
important because nectar levels in flowers
are very dependent on environmental factors
and can drop dramatically. Studies have also
shown that a Heliconius butterfly that has a
regular and abundant source of pollen can
live six times longer (up to six months) than
one that feeds only on nectar (one month).
The amino acids in pollen greatly enhance
egg quality and the quantity of eggs laid
by the butterfly during its lifetime, and also
contribute to the toxicity of Heliconius butterfly species, making
them distasteful to predators.
When visiting the Wings of the Tropics exhibit this summer, pay
close attention to the cornucopia of nectar and pollen that our
happy butterflies feast on daily. You are literally walking through
a buffet for our winged friends.
David Hardy has an Associate of Science degree in horticulture and
landscape technology and an MBA in marketing. He joined Fairchild as a
horticulture and conservation intern. Having completed his internship, he
began working with exotic butterflies in the Wings of the Tropics Exhibit
since its inauguration in 2012. He also worked to restore and maintain
Fairchild’s South Florida Butterfly Garden and Vine Pergola exhibits.
summer 2014
55
What’s in
a Name?
Giving leaves
a little recognition
By Georgia Tasker
P
eople who name plants
sometimes take the easy way
out: “Oh, that plant has big
flowers, so let’s call it Plantus
grandiflorus.” Or, they may be politically
astute, as was Sir Joseph Banks, the
unofficial director of the Botanical
Garden of King George III, who in
1773 named the South African bird
of paradise—Strelitzia reginae—for
the King’s wife, Queen Charlotte, the
Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz.
Other times, people may look at a
plant—both the flower and the leaves—
and decide to give the leaves a little
recognition. There are many plants with
epithets that refer to the leaves, and many
characters of leaves may be described.
Leaves can be hairy, or hirsutus; they can
be wrinkled, or rugosa; they can resemble
leaves of a mimosa, mimosifolius, and so
on. Many plants in the Garden bear out
the names of basic leaf shapes:
Acuminate (acuminata), tapering to a
long point or with sharply pointed leaves:
Carpentaria acuminata, a palm found in Plots
112 and 119, demonstrates this leaf shape.
Cordate (cordata), heart-shaped with
the stem attaching to the cleft: Ruizia
cordata, Plot 35, has heart-shaped leaves,
albeit notched by beetles this time of
year. (This name may or may not be
correct, according to the authoritative
“The Plant List on the Web.” Based on
what we know about taxonomists, a new
name may be in the offing!)
Digitate (digitata), divided into finger-like
lobes; shaped like a hand: Adansonia
digitata, that upside-down tree from
Africa with a base as big as the Ritz and
stubby limbs, has hand-shaped leaves.
Elliptic (elliptica), an oval that is longer
than wide but broadest in the middle:
Soldierwood, Colubrina elliptica, displays
perfectly elliptical leaves.
Falcate (falcata), sickle-shaped: Neofinitia
falcata, a miniature orchid long admired
in Japan, now is called Vanda falcata.
Asparagus falcatus can be found on the
wall along Old Cutler Road, somewhat
near the baobab. It has large, sickleshaped leaves and pretty white flowers.
Hastate (hastata), spear-shaped with
flaring, pointed lobes at the base: Jatropha
hastata would fit the bill if it hadn’t been
renamed Jatropha integerrima.
Pedate (pedata), palmate with cleft
lobes or divisions radiating from the
center: Psiguria pedata in the Wings of
the Tropics butterfly conservatory shows
this characteristic. It is in the cucumber
family, and not long ago bore a fruit that
resembled a tiny striped cuke.
Lance-shaped (lanceolata), but wider
in the middle: Calathea lancifolia, with
lance-shaped leaves, has once more been
tampered with by taxonomists and now is
Calathea insignis.
Peltate (peltata), shield-shaped, with the
petiole attached away from the margin:
Cecropia peltata in Plot 130 has peltate
leaves, but so do the other unnamed
Cecropia species in the Rainforest.
Linear (linearis), long and narrow: Croton
linearis, a small shrub native to the pine
rockland, has linear leaves, although they
aren’t particularly long.
Pinnate (pinnata), bearing two rows of
leaflets: Arenga pinnata, the sugar palm
opposite the Tropical Plant Conservatory,
exhibits leaflets directly across from each
other on their rachis or stem.
But note that it is a “robust” climber and
sometimes is called “sicklethorn.”
Orbicular (orbicularis), circular, round
and flat: You would think seagrape
should bear that name, but while it has
round leaves, it is called Coccoloba
uvifera—the feminine form of ovifero,
meaning grape-bearing. Licuala
orbicularis is a difficult palm to grow,
according to expert Paul Craft, who
photographed a specimen in Hawaii, but
it may be growing in Fairchild’s nursery.
Ovate (ovata), egg-shaped with the broad
end at the base: Crassula ovata is the
jade plant.
Palmate (palmata), like a hand with
outstretched fingers: Carludovica palmata
flourishes on the slope leading to the
Sunken Garden and is known as the
Panama hat plant. (The Panama hat,
by the way, originated in Ecuador but
shipped from Panama.)
Sagittate (sagittaria), arrowhead-shaped:
Look in the Rainforest for Philodendron
sagittifolium; it is just north of the path
behind the horticulture office.
Subulate (subulata), awl-shaped with a
tapering point: Heliconia subulata lives
near the giant Borassus palm in the
Rainforest.
Trifoliate (trifoliata), with three leaflets:
Triphasia trifolia in Plot 39 is a shrub
whose genus name means parts in threes,
as its flowers are in parts of three, while
trifolia means three leaflets.
A special thank you goes to Marilyn Griffiths,
Fairchild’s plant recorder, who helped find the
living plants in her plant records.
summer 2014
57
advertisement
gardening in south florida
Follow these fun
and simple steps:
Scarify the hard seed
coat—make shallow
incisions to break up
the surface—with a
file to allow water
to enter and initiate
germination.
Fill a glass container
with water and
scarified seeds; keep
it in a windowsill,
refreshing the water
from time to time.
Germinating a sacred
lotu
tus
s
Text and photos by Georgia Tasker
A
sacred lotus opens as the sun warms the morning. With the deliberate
pace of a Tai Chi master, the spoon-shaped petals of Nelumbo
nucifera lower to reveal a golden pistil and the brilliant white stamens
surrounding it, looking like a regiment at attention around a golden
throne. By late afternoon, the petals rise and the flower gradually closes.
When the flower opens on the second day, the stamens are less perfectly
composed as they begin to shed their pollen, while the stigmas swell and glisten
in noonday sun. A bee happens in, drawn by fragrance and imagination, before
the petals close once more.
On the third day, petals fall away, stamens collapse backwards and the next
phase begins.
Watch as the seeds
swell and the first
leaf begins to form,
pushing its way out.
When roots have
formed and the first
round leaf opens,
plant seeds in a couple
of inches of damp soil
in a bucket.
As the leaves develop
and rise above the
water, replant into
a large container or
pond, and add aquatic
fertilizer tabs.
Enjoy.
Once pollinated, the pistil swells, seeds put on weight and a green pod enlarges
and begins to bend forward. When development is complete, the pod turns
brown, relaxing its individual seed cups so the mature hard seeds may fall to the
water below.
This much-revered flower of Asia can be cultivated from these seeds with ease.
The steps are surprisingly fun and simple, and hardly as ethereal in nature as
the flower itself.
summer 2014
59
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10/15/13 9:39 AM
plant societies
SOCIETIES
The Rare Fruit Council
Moves to Fairchild
By Matthew E. Snow, M.D., President RFCI
Upcoming meetings and presentations:
August 13
“The 10 Universal Truths of Tropical Fruit
Horticulture” by Jeff Wasielewski
September 10
“Tropical Fruit Tour of Hawaii”
by Chris Rollins.
October 8
“Going Bananas” By Don Chafin
(Plants will be available for purchase.)
November 12
“Laurel Wilt Disease in Avocados”
by Jonathan Crane.
Our February 2015 meeting will feature a
free hands-on grafting workshop.
Visit our website for additional
information: www.tropicalfruitnews.org
T
he Miami-based Rare Fruit
Council International (RFCI)
is the premier organization
dedicated solely to the
education about, and introduction and
promotion of rare tropical fruits. Founded
in 1955, Miami-based RFCI has 450
worldwide members. They belong to
an international body of dooryard and
commercial growers, hobbyists, fruit lovers
and people with an interest in tropical
fruit. Membership includes an annual
subscription to Tropical Fruit News—a
bimonthly, full-color magazine dedicated
to tropical fruits and their culture.
Beginning in August, we will move our
meetings to Fairchild’s DiMare Science
Village, meeting on the second Wednesday
of each month at 7:30 p.m. Our meetings
feature educational programs with guest
speakers, a tasting table with exotic fruits
(fresh fruit as well as dishes prepared by
our members), door prizes and plant and
seed exchanges. We also host field trips,
plant sales, conventions and workshops.
The RFCI is very excited to be hosting
our meetings at Fairchild. We have been
long-time supporters of the Garden,
participating regularly in Fairchild’s
events, including The Ramble, the Spring
Garden Festival and Plant Sale and others.
Please join us as our guests and future
members. Catch the excitement and
energy of the many facets of the RFCI.
Dragon
Fruit
This easy-to-grow
climbing cactus
has both spectacular
flowers and delicious fruit.
The plant requires support to
grow. A fence, stump, tree, post or trellis
offer good support options. Flowering is
triggered by heavy rain followed by warm
weather. Fruit develop quickly and usually
ripen 4-5 weeks after flowering (JuneNovember). They love any fertilizer and
mulch. They are very sensitive to herbicides
so avoid or use with caution. With the
numerous varieties available, it is a great
addition to your garden.
gifts and donors
The following gifts were made between March 1, 2014 and May 31, 2014.
Please notify the Member Services and Donor Relations Office at 305.667.1651, ext. 3310
if your information is incorrect. We apologize in advance for any errors or omissions.
Major Gifts
Education Programming
The Ethel and W. George
Kennedy Family Foundation
Mrs. Kendel Kennedy
Gulliver Schools
Plants and People
Program, People Living
with Alzheimer’s
The Paula Cooper Gallery
Ms. Paula Cooper
Israel, Rose, Henry and Robert
Wiener Charitable
Foundation Inc.
The Million Orchid Project
Greenberg Traurig
Marh Foundation
Nordstrom
Conservatory Maintenance
The Miami Foundation
Selma Alexander Fund
Fairchild Gifts
The following list combines
membership and gifts to
Fairchild at the $1,000 level
and above.
Diamond Fellow
Mr. and Mrs. Paul J. DiMare
Platinum Fellow
The Stamps Family Charitable
Foundation Inc.
Mr. and Mrs.
E. Roe Stamps IV
Mrs. Bunny Bastian
Mr. Bruce W. Greer and
Ms. Evelyn Langlieb Greer
White & Case L.L.P.
Mrs. Jay W. Lotspeich
Gold Fellow
JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Agnes Gund Foundation
Ms. Agnes Gund
62 THE TROPICAL Garden
Silver Fellow
Baptist Health South Florida
Mr. and Mrs. Clifford W. Mezey
Ecoripe Tropicals
Fellow
Mr. and Mrs. K. Lawrence Gragg
Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Parker
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Carreras
ExxonMobil Foundation
Garden Group of Ocean Reef
The Fay P. Aronson Trust
Ms. Fay P. Aronson
Mr. Joshua Kotler and
Mrs. Christine E. ThompsonKotler
Global Village Charitable Trust
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel R. Lewis
Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Swanson
Mr. and Mrs.
Roger L. Rosenberger
Mrs. Patrizia Auricchio and
Ms. Giulia Auricchio
Automotive Marketing
Consultants Inc. (AMCI)
Mr. and Mrs. William Biggs
Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Block, MD
Block Botanical Gardens
Mr. Richard Bowers and
Mrs. Challis Lowe-Bowers
Mr. Richard W. Ebsary
Mr. and Mrs. James R. Field, Sr.
Mr. and Mrs. David Frankel
Mr. and Mrs. Gregory J. Freeborg
Dr. and Mrs. Phillip T. George
Mr. and Mrs. Irving Bolotin
Mr. Edwin McAmis and
Mr. Gerson Gonzalez
Mr. Harve Mogul
Mr. and Mrs.
Stephen D. Pearson
Robert P. and Jolyn H. Esquerre
Ms. Julie A. Smith and
Mr. Paul Freas
Mr. and Mrs.
John K. Shubin, Esq.
Mr. and Mrs.
Donald D. Slesnick II
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen M. Takach
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Tobin
Mr. Joseph A. Traina and
Dr. Hillary Canning
Mr. and Mrs.
Christopher G. Tyson
Mr. B. Rodney White and
Mr. Michael P. Williams
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Radell
Mrs. Laura Frohman and
Mr. Lon Ohlfest
Mr. and Mrs. David J. Preve
Mr. Brandon Bozek and
Ms. Katie Willse
Mr. Alan Greer and
Ms. Patricia Seitz
Mrs. Virginia Hester
The Katcher Family Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Katcher
Mr. Philip B. Korsant
Mr. and Mrs. Jon Batchelor
The Ella Gelvan Philanthropic
Fund
Ms. Ella Gelvan
Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Aragon
Ms. Nannette Zapata and
Dr. Frank DeLaurier
Mr. and Mrs.
Eugenio Sevilla-Sacasa
Ms. Sandy Batchelor
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel M. Bell
Mr. and Mrs. M. Anthony Burns
Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Donsky
Mrs. Lillian Fessenden
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth R. Graves
Mr. and Mrs. Allan Herbert
Dr. Jane H. Hsiao
Ms. Anne Kilkenny
Dr. Lin L. Lougheed and
Mr. Aaron I. Fleischman
Dr. and Mrs. Martin R. Motes
Mr. George T. Neary
Mr. Kenneth W. O’Keefe
and Mr. Jason Stephens
Mr. and Mrs. William Pullman
Adam R. Rose and
Peter R. McQuillan
Dr. and Mrs.
Michael N. Rosenberg
Mr. and Mrs. Larry Rutherford
Mr. Arturo J. Xiques
Mrs. Ann Ziff
TRIBUTE PROGRAM
Commemorative Gifts
In Honor of Adam R. Rose and
Peter R. McQuillan
Mrs. Gail R. Gremse
In Memory of Violet Buckner
Mr. Albert Brown
Ms. Bianca Bruce
Ms. Samantha Josephs
In Memory of Kathy Sorenson
Mr. and Mrs. John T. Duff
In Memory of Elane Nuehring
Mrs. Dorothy W. Errera
Ms. Mary Lou Stolinski
Ms. Linda Raybin
Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Winge
In Memory of Sara Frates
Mr. and Mrs.
Wilson McElhinny
The Diggers Garden Club
In Honor of
Dr. Lin L. Lougheed and
Mr. Aaron I. Fleischman
Mr. and Mrs. Evan Reed
In Memory of
Mrs. Zylpha Clinton
Trust of Esther A. Spachner
In Honor of Barry and
Bobby Garber
Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Deutsch
In Memory of Ann Marie
Raywood Bensen
Mr. Carl R. Cergol and
Ms. Arlene B. Ferris
Ms. Nola Copeland
In Honor of Gisela Guerke
Ms. Jacqueline Jacobsen
wish list
Fairchild has a wish list of items that
will enhance our programs, but we
need Wish Makers. We hope you see
an item that you can help fulfill.
FOR our HORTICULTURE operation
• 2 Tablet Notebooks, $1,500
• 12 Golf Cart Batteries, $1,200
• Walk-Behind Aerator, $1,500
• Hardware for Accession Tag
Embossing Machine, $2,000
• Plant Transport Van, $20,000
FOR CONSERVATION, RESEARCH AND
THE ONLINE HERBARIUM
• Extra-Tall Tripod, $150
• Macro Zoom Lens for Sony SLR
Camera, $800
• Laptop Computer, $2,000
• New Display Giclee Prints on Canvas
for Public Events, $2,000
• Plant Canopy Imager, $6,000
• Seed Germination Chamber, $8,500
• Mid-Size Pickup Truck, $26,400
• GPS Unit (GeoXT 6000), $8,000
FOR THE RESEARCH LIBRARY
• World Checklists for: Araliaceae, Conifers
and Fagales, $300
FOR SPECIAL EVENTS
• Mobile Kitchen, $3,000—wish fulfilled!
FOR THE FAIRCHILD FARM
• Golf Cart, $7,000
FOR THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE
OPERATION
• iPad, $500
• Digital SLR Camera, $500
FOR MEMBER AND DONOR SERVICES
• Laptop Computer/LCD Projector, $2,000
• Digital SLR Camera, $1,000
FOR OUR STUDENTS
• New Vehicle for PlantMobile
Outreach Program, $25,000
• Solar Conversion Kits for Education
Golf Carts, $4,000
• iPads for Explorer Field Studies
Program, $2,500
• Laptop Computer for Lifelong Learning,
$600
• SMART Board for the Corbin Classroom,
$2,000—wish fulfilled!
• Table-Top Easels, $125
• Art Display Panels, $1,000
• Dark Field Microscope, $600
• Cannon Double-Sided Feed Scanner,
$3,000
Tribute Bricks
In Honor of Kellie Stewart
Friends of Kellie Stewart
In Memory of Larry
Pendleburry
Pan American Orchid
Society for Ms.
Catherine Pendlebury
In Memory of
Bruce Berckmans
Pan American Orchid
Society for Ms. Shirley
Berckmans
In Honor of Henry
and Joanne
Mr. and Mrs.
John Schlegel
In Memory of Susan
Hamilton-Smith
Ms. Ana-Maria Brown
In Memory of Cathy
Sheehan
Ms. Sheila Frazier
In Honor of Fairchild
Tropical Botanic Garden
Ms. Lynda L. La Rocca
In Honor of Alberto and
Gina Lever
Mr. and Mrs.
Samuel A. Milne
In Memory of Hazel
Margaret Holtman
Ms. Barbara Namon
In Memory of Lillian and
Ralph Cades
Mr. and Mrs.
Thomas Spencer
In Memory of
Dorothy S. Oren
Ms. Georgia B. Tasker
In Memory of
Jenevieve Telesco
Morris and Anita Broad
In Honor of
Mr. Leslie A. Bowe
Morris and Anita Broad
Tribute Benches
In Memory of Elizabeth
Bejar-Gonzalez
Mr. Boris Gonzalez
and family
Tribute Trees
In Honor of Barbara
Weintraub
Ms. Lori E. Browning
Commissioner Sally
Heyman
The Joe and Lindy Roth
Foundation, Inc.
Ms. Margaret Elsea
Ms. Marlene Erven
Ms. Karen L. Fraser
Mrs. Sue H. Nichols
Dr. Nancy Reierson and
Dr. John W. Uribe
Mrs. Carol Russo and
Mr. Henry Mangels
Mr. and Mrs. Alan Byrd
In Memory of Mary
Elizabeth Henrichs
Mr. Larry Henrichs
Ms. Carla S. Henrichs
In Memory of Ann Marie
Raywood Bensen
Mr. John Bensen
In Honor of Victoria
Mrs. Kathleen Hirsch
and Ms. Hailey Hirsch
In Memory of
Adam Badrampour
Ms. Ailyn Carrion
FOR OUR VISITORS
• Golf Cart, $7,000
FOR THE LIFELONG LEARNING PROGRAM
• Laptop and LCD, $1,200
To fully fund a wish, donate a portion of the
cost or donate the actual item, please contact
Leslie Bowe at 305.667.1651, ext. 3338,
lbowe@fairchildgarden.org or please visit
www.fairchildgarden.org/Donate
To support Fairchild, please visit
www.fairchildgarden.org/Donate
summer 2014
63
advertisement
Calling all amateur
photographers!
Submit your best photos of the birds
of South Florida, a featured part of
Fairchild’s annual Bird Festival.
Please submit the completed
application and digital photo entries
by Friday, September 19, 2014.
Visit
www.fairchildgarden.org/birdfestival
for the application form and
more information.
fairchild tropical botanic garden
garden views
Fairchild
bloomed
with spring events
By Brooke LeMaire
S
pring at Fairchild was filled with new blooms
and fun events. The big festival of the season was
April’s Spring Garden Festival featuring the 35th
Annual Spring Plant Sale and Butterfly Days, which
featured thousands of plants grown by Fairchild staff and
local vendors. As part of Butterfly Days, the Miami Blue
Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association hosted
lepidopterists (butterfly experts) to teach visitors the best
ways to attract, foster and photograph butterflies. Local
chefs gave cooking demos using the best foods of the
season, as did students who competed in The Fairchild
Challenge Green Cuisine Competition.
Family Nature Night celebrated the magic of pollination
and the nocturnal fauna of South Florida with Florida
International University’s Entomology Club and the Falcon
Batchelor Bird of Prey Center. Guests helped Fairchild’s
director, Dr. Carl Lewis, and his daughter, Eleonor, pollinate
the Garden’s sausage tree in the Lowlands. A special
screening of the DisneyNature butterfly documentary
“Wings of Life” was held in the Glasshouse Café.
On Earth Day, Fairchild staff and volunteers traveled to
Merrick Park, across from Coral Gables City Hall, to plant
the first round of propagated orchids as part of The Million
Orchid Project. Mayor Jim Cason, Vice Mayor Bill Kerdyk and
Fairchild Director Carl Lewis gave welcoming remarks. The
Coral Gables City Commission and Parknership Program
are supporters of the project, which aims to reintroduce
1 million native orchids into South Florida’s urban
environments, with 250,000 orchids introduced throughout
public areas in Coral Gables.
Fairchild partnered with the University of Miami Frost
School of Music to host a Big Band Concert on April 19,
featuring the Frost Concert Jazz Band with vocalists Rebecca
Renee Olstead and James Tormé.
On Mother’s Day, Fairchild celebrated moms with a
delectable brunch in the Garden House. A Mother’s
Day Tea was held in the Shehan Visitor Center Ballroom
overlooking Pandanus Lake.
A first for the Garden was Vintage Vehicles at Fairchild.
On May 18—thanks to a partnership with the Antique
Automobile Club of America and the Sunshine Corvette
Club—more than 100 beautiful vintage cars graced
the Garden, including a full assortment of Corvettes,
Volkswagens and many more!
Forty-five artists and instructors displayed more than 100 works
of art at the Eighth Annual Fairchild Artists in Bloom exhibition
and sale in May. The pieces were created during classes
held in the Garden and were composed of media including
watercolors, oils and acrylics.
Throughout the season, walking tours gave visitors an indepth look at the Garden through various themes, including
butterflies, plants of the tropics, palms and more. New
this year is the Early-Bird Walking Tour, which explores the
Garden’s best places to spot birds. Several plant societies
held their annual shows and sales, offering everything
from palms to exotic plants for landscaping. And Fairchild
celebrated National Public Gardens Day on May 9 with
discounted admission and special activities.
Thursday Nights at Fairchild brought in experts to discuss
topics in environmental studies, ranging from rare plants
and ferns to butterfly macrophotography. Moonlight
Tours, sunset yoga classes, live music and stargazing with
the Southern Cross Astronomical Society helped create
wonderful experiences for our evening visitors. summer 2014
65
1
2
3
4
1. Plants of all kinds were available at the
Spring Garden Festival Featuring the 35th
Annual Spring Plant Sale and Butterfly Days.
2. City of Coral Gables Commissioners help
install the first orchids from The Million
Orchid Project into trees in Coral Gables.
3. Junior scientists, led by Eleonor Lewis, handpollinate the sausage tree during Family
Nature Night.
4. Vintage Vehicles at Fairchild was the first
event of its kind in the Garden.
66 THE TROPICAL Garden
6
5. The Kushlan Bird Program launched
Early-Bird Walks during South Florida’s
spring migration. Visitors enjoyed and
learned about the Garden’s avifauna while
enjoying the peaceful morning landscapes.
Join us next time! Walks will resume
in September.
6. Fairchild Artist in Bloom, Marcelle Zanetti,
Mango and Lychee, Oil, 2014.
5
Scholarship recipients with Dr. James Vaughn.
This year, The Fairchild Challenge awarded
the Lewis Vaughn Memorial Scholarship
to two local high school students
and 18 paid summer internships.
from the archives
I
t is possible that Dr. David Fairchild was the first
“foodie” in the United States. His writings and papers
are full of discussions about introducing to the
American public the myriad of plants he discovered
on plant explorations. He often bemoaned the lack of
variety in American and English diets. And, he realized the
importance to fledgling agricultural industries of getting
recipes to prospective customers. For these reasons, and
encouraged by both of his patrons, Barbour Lathrop and
Allison Armour, Fairchild collected recipes to bring back
to the U.S. to distribute among friends and colleagues.
He became a genius at getting recipes from local growers
as well as from colleagues and those whom he visited on
his many travels. Fairchild frequented local marketplaces
and always tried the local cuisine to see how fruits and
vegetables were prepared. His writings are full of tales of
new foods tasted and evaluated for introduction to the
American palate.
David Fairchild
Collector of Recipes
By Janet Mosely
“Our luncheons became the testing
times of new fruits that must be
sampled. Callers were pressed into
service for unbiased first opinions—
not by any means always favorable.”
“The World Grows Round My Door,
David Fairchild”
68 THE TROPICAL Garden
Fairchild delighted in serving entirely new foods at banquets
and dinners. Take the Chinese t’sao, or jujube, which
was doing very well at the Chico Introduction Garden in
California. It proved to be a prolific fruit-bearing tree whose
late blooms kept it safe from frost damage. Fairchild, with
the help of Gilbert Grosvenor, served jujube in a candied
syrup at an annual banquet of the National Geographic
Society. Walter T. Swingle wrote the following for the
evening’s program: “They are the first American grown
t’saos to be served at a great public function and represent
one of the tangible results of agricultural exploration as it is
being carried on by the Department of Agriculture.”
The jujubes were a success that evening and the fruit looked
set to become another important economic crop for American
agriculture. But the Department of Agriculture’s inability
to market and grow foodstuffs, coupled with the outbreak
of war, led to its being forgotten. For every successful
introduction that created new industries—navel oranges,
avocado, mango—there were many introductions that never
quite lived up to their economic promise.
Branch of fruiting jujube
(Zizyphus sativa).
Photo by Archives/FTBG
Some of the recipes:
In the Fairchild Archive, Nancy Korber and her volunteers
are always on the lookout for recipes found scattered
throughout the collection, whether in a Pocket Notebook
or buried in the text of a letter. When a recipe is found, its
location is logged in a notebook which is kept readily
at hand.
Today, David Fairchild’s tradition of sharing recipes and
cooking techniques for the fruits, vegetables and plants
of the world is carried on at the Garden. Noris Ledesma,
Fairchild’s curator of tropical fruit, and Leila Werner, carry
on the tradition. It also carries on through the Garden’s
cooking classes, and festivals, which bring people together
to learn about mangos, chocolate and other delicious plant
products. Dr. Fairchild would love to see the plants he
worked so hard to introduce being shared and enjoyed by
so many.
Chutney
In 1911, Dr. Fairchild
was touring the Northeast
giving lectures about plant
introduction and cultivation. He
obtained the following chutney
recipe from P.J. Wester’s article
“The Mango” in Bulletin No.
19 of the Philippine Bureau
of Agriculture, Manila. It is
attributed to Mrs. Cora Ormsbee
Scales of Miami, Florida.
6 lbs kilograms of mango pulp
turned but not ripe
6 lbs tamarind
5 lbs of stoned raisins
8 kilograms brown sugar
0.5 kilo chilies
2 kilos green ginger
0.5 kilo garlic or 1.5 kilo onions
0.25 kilo mace
65 grams mustard seed
15 grams cloves
15 grams pimento
0.5 kilo table salt
4 liters of best vinegar
Soak the tamarinds in the
vinegar, stir them about with a
wooden spoon to get the pulp off
and take out the seeds. Cut the
raisins small. Peel the ginger and
grate it. Pound the chilies, garlic
and mustard seed in a mortar,
using a little of the vinegar for
moistening. Mix all together
thoroughly with the mango pulp.
It is then ready for use.
Papaya Pie
Dr. David Fairchild’s grandchildren,
Hugh and Helene Muller, tasting
“Kampong No. 1” a white sapote grown
at the Kampong. May 13, 1941.
Photo by Archives/FTBG
Coconut Ice
Later, during that same trip,
Fairchild collected a recipe
for Coconut Ice from a Miss
Nichols, the daughter of a
grower he met in Haiti.
2 dry coconuts = 6 people
Grate. Squeeze through cloth.
Wring hard. Add 1 packet of
jellative melted in a little water
to the [sic]…sweeten to taste
and set on ice to set.
Tangelo Ice
In early 1917, Fairchild and
Lathrop were in South Florida to
visit special plant introductions
being grown here. While at
William J. Krome’s grove in
Homestead, they tasted Tangelo
Ice. Tangelos, one of the successful
citrus hybrids developed by
Swingle, were among the fruits
that Krome was growing. The
following recipe was invented by
Mrs. L.L. Bow of Homestead
and produced what Lathrop
declared to be “…the most
delicate ice I have ever tasted.”
1 quart tangelo juice
2 cups granulated sugar
2 level tablespoonfuls flour
1 quart boiling water
Mix flour and sugar and pour
boiling water over it; boil five
minutes; cool and then add
juice; freeze.
A Papaya Pie recipe was
found jotted down in a pocket
notebook Fairchild used while
visiting Nassau, Bahamas during
the 1932 Utowana expedition
to the West Indies.
Cook ripe papaya just as you
would pumpkin, peeling it and
mashing it, then use a good
pumpkin pie recipe-one having
3 eggs in it. And cover it with a
marangue [sic].
summer 2014
69
connect with fairchild
­­­­VISIT US
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables FL 33156
T: 305.667.1651 F: 305.661.8953
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Every day (except December 25)
Admission: Free for Fairchild Members and children 5 and under.
Non-members: $25 for adults, $18 for seniors 65 and up and
$12 for children 6-17.
Eco-discount: If you walk, ride your bike or take public
transportation to Fairchild, receive $5 off admission for adults and
$2 off admission for children. Members, remember to bring your
Rewards Card to earn your gift passes!
Military Discount: We are pleased to offer active military
personnel free admission. Please present Military IDs.
FAIRCHILD BLOGS
Found at Fairchild
Discover Fairchild past and present with Fairchild writer Kenneth
Setzer. www.fairchildgarden.org/FoundatFairchild
Gardening with Georgia
Plant writer extraordinaire Georgia Tasker writes about plants and
everything Fairchild. www.fairchildgarden.org/GeorgiaTasker
Musings with Mary
Fairchild Senior Horticulturist Mary Collins writes about
horticulture in the Garden and around South Florida.
www.fairchildgarden.org/Horticulture
For the Love of Mangos
Fairchild Tropical Fruit Curators Dr. Richard J. Campbell and
Noris Ledesma write about traveling the globe in search of the
world’s most delicious fruit. www.fairchildgarden.org/LoveMangos
The Cheng Ho Blog
Seventy years after Dr. David Fairchild’s famous Cheng Ho
expedition, you can follow the ship’s journey with daily journal
entries posted in this historical blog.
www.fairchildgarden.org/ChengHo
GIFTS THAT GIVE BACK
Give the gift of Fairchild
Inquiries: 305.667.1651, ext. 3351
donate@fairchildgarden.org.
www.fairchildgarden.org/GiftIdeas
GET INVOLVED
Become a Member
Become a member and enjoy Garden benefits all year long.
Inquiries: 305.667.1651, ext. 3301 or 3362
membership@fairchildgarden.org
www.fairchildgarden.org/Membership
Volunteer
Become a volunteer and help the Garden grow.
Inquiries: 305.667.1651, ext. 3324
volunteer@fairchildgarden.org
www.fairchildgarden.org/Volunteer
Give
Donate to the Garden and help support Fairchild’s programs.
Inquiries: 305.667.1651, ext. 3351
donate@fairchildgarden.org
www.fairchildgarden.org/DonateNow
EVENTS AND PRIVATE RENTALS
Information about events can be found on Fairchild’s website.
Tickets for certain events may be purchased online. Interested in
having your event at Fairchild? Please call us or visit our website.
Inquiries: 305.667.1651, ext. 3359
specialevents@fairchildgarden.org
www.fairchildgarden.org/Events
SHOP AT FAIRCHILD
Visit The Shop at Fairchild for a large selection of gardening and
culinary books, home decor items and unique gifts.
Inquiries: 305.667.1651, ext. 3305
shop@fairchildgarden.org. store.fairchildonline.com
GET YOUR BINOCULARS
You may borrow a pair of binoculars to get a closer look at Fairchild’s
wildlife. Please ask at the Visitor Center’s information desk.
FOLLOW US
www.fairchildgarden.org
FairchildGarden
FairchildGarden
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FairchildGarden
In conjunction with the
76 annual Members’ Day Plant Sale
th
(Saturday)
Thursday through Sunday
October 2, 3, 4 and 5, 2014
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
In partnership with
Tropical Audubon Society (TAS)
Bird Festival at Fairchild is made
possible by the generous support of the
James A. Kushlan Bird Conservation Program.
fairchild
tropical
botanic
garden
Printed on recycled paper that contains
10% post-consumer waste and is FSC®
Certified using vegetable-based ink. When
you are finished enjoying this magazine,
please recycle it by sharing it with a friend.
Non-Profit
Organization
U. S. Postage
PAID
Miami, Florida
Permit No. 155
colombia
FEATURING THE MANGOS OF
Saturday and Sunday
July 12-13, 2014
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
This year, we celebrate the
colorful mangos of Colombia!
From the sweet and juicy ‘Azucar’
of the tropical Lowlands to the spicy
and aromatic heirloom ‘Vallenato’ of the
Atlantic Coast. We will also have your favorite
mango varieties from elsewhere in one funfilled, action-packed and delicious weekend!
Presented by:
Mangifera indica,
‘Batchelor’
Watercolor painting
by Julio Figueroa
Additional support from:
Private Bank