summer 2014

Harvesting DNA The Science Behind the King of published by fairchild tropical botanic garden The Shop at Fairchild

Mango salsa, $6.99 Member price, $6.29

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contents

features

The Call of the Wild: how The rebirth of the mango 31 17 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 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

Living where others dare 38 not: plants of the desert from the director

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 Ayear’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 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 (“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

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. TFairchild 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 .

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 advertisement contributors Pond problems? we are your answer!

Noris Ledesma is the curator of tropical fruit We do it right for Fairchild. She is a plant collector and tropical fruit the first time! specialist focused on mangos, and has spent the last decade in 305-251-POND(7663) tropical Asia, Africa and North and South America searching www.PondDoctors.net for new fruit and lecturing on Licensed/Insured their care and production. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in species and their contribution to the people of . 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 Delivery and Installation Available genetic resources and horticultural outreach. He aspires to train the next generation of tropical horticulturists in South Florida. Richard Lyons’’ Nursery inc.inc. Rare & Unusual Tropical Trees & Plants GEORGIA TASKER Flowering •• FruitFruit •• NativeNative •• PalmPalm •• BambooBamboo •• HeliconiaHeliconia was the garden writer for The •• BonsaiBonsai && ButterButterflyfly Miami Herald for more than 30 years, and now writes and blogs PROUD MEMBER OF for Fairchild. She has received the Garden’s highest honor, the Barbour Medal, and a lifetime www.RichardLyonsNursery.comwww.RichardLyonsNursery.com achievement award from the [email protected]@RichardLyonsNursery.com Tropical Audubon Society. She @lycheeman1@lycheeman1 onon TwitterTwitter is also an avid photographer, Nursery:Nursery: 2020020200 S.W.S.W. 134134 Ave.,Ave., MiamiMiami gardener and traveler. She Phone:Phone: 305-251-6293305-251-6293 •• fax:fax: 305-324-1054305-324-1054 graduated cum laude from Mail:Mail: 12301230 N.W.N.W. 7th7th StSt •• Miami,Miami, FLFL 3312533125 Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana. ON THE Cover The sun sets on a Emily Warschefsky mango grove. 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. 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. Volunteer Members’ Day Brooke LeMaire July Information Days Plant Sale Emily Warschefsky weekend activities Tuesday, August 19 Saturday, October 4 Sara Zajic Go to www.fairchildgarden. 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. copy editors org/weekends for Saturday, August 23 Mary Collins programming. 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Rochelle Broder-Singer November Kenneth Setzer Plant ID Workshop Plant Show and advertising information Friday, July 4 September Sale Presented by the Leslie Bowe 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Plant ID Workshop South Florida Palm 305.667.1651, ext. 3338 Friday, September 5 Society previous editors Fairchild 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday International Mango November 1 and 2 Marjory Stoneman Douglas 1945-50 Festival Growers’ Jubilee Lucita Wait 1950-56 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Summit Saturday, September 13 Nixon Smiley 1956-63 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 74th Annual Ramble, Lucita Wait 1963-77 Friday, July 11 a fall Garden Festival Ann Prospero 1977-86 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Volunteer Friday, Saturday and Karen Nagle 1986-91 The 22nd Annual Information Days Sunday Nicholas Cockshutt 1991-95 International Mango Saturday, September 13 Susan Knorr 1995-2004 November 7, 8 and 9 Festival 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday Plant Show and July 12 and 13 Plant ID Workshop The Tropical Garden Volume 69, Sale Presented by the 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Friday, November 7 Number 3. Summer 2014. International Aroid The Tropical Garden is published quarterly. 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Subscription is included in membership dues. Fairchild’s 15th Society © FTBG 2014, ISSN 2156-0501 Annual Mango Friday, Saturday and Sunday All rights reserved. No part of this publication Brunch September 19, 20 and 21 may be reproduced without permission. Sunday, July 13 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. October Accredited by the American Association of Museums, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden August Festival is supported by contributions from members weekend activities AT Fairchild and friends, and in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, Go to www.fairchildgarden. Thursday through Sunday the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, the John org/weekends for October 2, 3, 4 and 5 D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the programming. 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. National Endowment for the Arts, the Institute of This schedule of events is Museum and Library Services, the Miami-Dade Plant ID Workshop subject to change. For up-to-the- County Tourist Development Council, the Miami- Plant ID Workshop minute information, please call Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Friday, August 1 Friday, October 3 305.667.1651 or visit Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. www.fairchildgarden.org/Events Mayor and Board of County Commissioners and 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. with the support of the City of Coral Gables. Membership at fairchiLd Membership Categories Your Benefits... We have expanded and added membership • Free daily admission throughout the year categories to better fit your needs: • Free admission to all daytime events and art exhibitions • Free admission to the Wings of the Tropics Exhibit Individual $90 • Free parking Admits one adult • Free admission to all Members-only events, including Dual $110 Members’ Lectures, Moonlight Tours, the Members’ Day Admits two adults Plant Sale and select Members-only evening events Family $135 • Quick Admit at all admission points Admits two adults and • Subscription to the award-winning magazine children of members (17 and under) The Tropical Garden Grandparents $125 • Discounts to all ticketed day or evening events Admits two adults and grandchildren • Discounts at The Shop at Fairchild of members (17 and under) • Discounts and priority registrations for Family and Friends $170 adult education classes and seminars Admits four adults and children • Discounts to kids’ summer camps of members (17 and under) • Discounts on a wide variety of products and services Sustaining $250 from participating Branch Out Partners Admits four adults and children of members • Free or discounted admission** to more than 500 other (17 and under). Receives six gift admission gardens, arboreta and museums in the U.S. and abroad passes ($150 value) (**certain restrictions may apply) Signature $500 Admits four adults and children of members For more information, please call the Membership Department at (17 and under). Receives eight gift admission 305.667.1651, ext. 3362 or visit passes ($200 value) www.fairchildgarden.org/Membership

fairchild tropical botanic garden Photo by Gaby Orihuela/FTBG fairchild get in on the conservation board of trustees

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 Fairchild Challenge Partners from 10 Institutions Alejandro J. Aguirre Talk Collaboration Raymond F. Baddour, Sc.D. For more than 12 years, The Fairchild Challenge has been a role model for environmental Nancy Batchelor science education. Its simple structure of a school competition and the celebration of Norman J. Benford students, teachers and schools make this program easily adaptable for environments from Faith F. Bishock the plains and canyons of , to the urban settings of Pittsburgh and Miami, to rural Bruce E. Clinton communities in the Amazon. Martha O. Clinton Swanee DiMare Over the years, national and international botanical gardens, arboreta, research institutions José R. Garrigó and other community organizations have participated in workshops to learn how The Kenneth R. Graves Fairchild Challenge can be replicated and integrated as an educational tool Willis D. Harding at their own organizations. Patricia M. Herbert Robert M. Kramer, Esq. In March, 10 partner institutions currently running The Fairchild Challenge program James Kushlan, Ph.D. met at Fairchild. They discussed the challenges of connecting students globally by R. Kirk Landon exchanging their projects and findings and looking for ways to create more opportunities Lin L. Lougheed, Ph.D. for collaboration. This summit was largely funded by the Institute of Museum and Tania Masi Library Services, which recognizes The Fairchild Challenge as a benchmark for informal Bruce C. Matheson education programs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The Institute’s Peter R. McQuillan grant also funded program evaluation and the training of three new program partners. David Moore Stephen D. Pearson, Esq. Fairchild Ph.D. Student Earns Two Adam R. Rose John K. Shubin, Esq. Prestigious Research Grants Janá Sigars-Malina, Esq. Fairchild Ph.D. student Emily Warschefsky, supervised by Dr. Eric James G. Stewart, Jr., M.D. von Wettberg of Florida International University and Fairchild, was Vincent A. Tria, Jr. recently awarded two prestigious research grants. Warschefsky Angela W. Whitman was one of 20 graduate students from across the country selected Ann Ziff to receive the Botanical Society of America’s Graduate Student Research Award, and one of 19 chosen to receive the American Clifford W. Mezey Society of Plant Taxonomists Graduate Student Research Grant. T. Hunter Pryor, M.D. These awards will support Warschefsky’s dissertation research, which Trustees Emeriti aims to shed light on the genetic impacts of domestication in mangos Carl E. Lewis, Ph.D. (), investigate possible hybridization between the Director mango and its wild relatives and elucidate the mango’s evolutionary Nannette M. Zapata, M.S./MBA relationship to other wild Mangifera species. This issue of The Chief Operating Officer 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.

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. Photo by D iana Peña/FTBG Photo by D avid H ardy/FTBG

The Fairchild Challenge Students Create Fairchild Volunteer Heading to Yale Baynanza T-shirt Designs to Study Science At this year’s Baynanza Biscayne Bay Cleanup Day VIP Celebration, Fairchild is fortunate to have many high school students who the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners and other take time out of their busy school schedules to volunteer at county officials recognized eight student participants in The Fairchild the Garden. One such student is Omar Paez, (above) voted Challenge (elementary school level) for their t-shirt designs. “Most Intelligent” by his peers at Coral Reef Senior High. Paez won an honorable mention in the Silver Knight Science Submitting a design for the Baynanza t-shirt was part of this year’s Award and was a Finalist for the Bill Gates Millennium Fairchild Challenge activities. Approximately 7,000 elementary Scholarship. He volunteered in the Wings of the Tropics students from Fairchild Challenge schools participated in this exhibit, Metamorphosis Lab and Micropropagation challenge, with 150 entries submitted for final judging. Eight of those Lab, where Fairchild Director Dr. Carl Lewis allotted him entries received highest awards, with Sofia Flores from Royal Green space for independent research. Elementary earning first place. Flores’s design was printed on this year’s Baynanza t-shirt, which was distributed to thousands of event “Highly motivated, goal oriented and always ready to learn, participants. Wearing their t-shirts proudly, fellow students, teachers, Omar has been an invaluable member of the volunteer team family members and Fairchild Challenge staff attended the VIP event and an inspiration to many,” says Fairchild Horticulturist to support the winning students and participate in this wonderful David Hardy, who worked with him. Paez will soon begin community project. his freshman year at Yale University, where he will study plant biotechnology and economics.

10 THE TROPICAL Garden 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.

n Colombia, mangos are snacks It is a polyembryonic cultivar that has for any time of the day. They can been savored by many generations of be breakfast, dessert or provide children and the young at heart. The natural juice for lunch or dinner. average fruit weight is 220 grams, and IColombia is located in the tropics, the color ranges from barium yellow Mango Ceviche which allows for two seasons during the to azalea pink when exposed to the year. The main growing season is during sun. The flesh is saffron yellow with Sweet mango, salty shrimp and tart lime balance each other beautifully in this light our winter; the second, smaller season coarse fiber throughout—but fret dish—great for a quick meal or as an elegant comes during our summer. Mangos not, for mango flesh is destined to be appetizer! in Colombia are available anywhere: softened and sucked out of the fruit. backyards, farmers markets and even ‘Azucar’ can be found in street markets 2 cups fresh, ripe, but firm, mango— the corner street vendor’s cart. throughout the Colombian lowlands chopped and peeled and can fetch high prices. 1 cup green mango—chopped and peeled Maduro o verde? 1/2 cup fresh lime juice Mangos are sold on the streets of most The tree is easy to grow, with consistent 2 tablespoons vinegar 1 tablespoon minced red onion Colombian towns and cities and range production and a signature flavor not 1 tablespoon minced red bell pepper from sweet to salty, depending on the to be missed. Trees will be available at 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro Fairchild’s Annual Mango Festival this preparation and type of mango. It is up 2 teaspoons minced garlic July 12-13, so don’t miss it. to you: sweet and ripe (maduro) or green 1 1/2 teaspoons minced jalapeño and tart (verde). Sold cubed and packed 1/8 teaspoon salt It is always a plus when something in tall plastic bags, then sprinkled with 8 ounces raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and salt, mangos are the local snack. The that tastes so good is actually good cut into 1/4-inch pieces majority of mangos grown in Colombia for you. Mangos are blood builders Combine all of the ingredients except the shrimp are ‘Keitt’ for the green market and and a digestive aid. They stimulate in a non-reactive bowl and stir well. ‘Azucar’ for those who love them sugary. metabolism, which is always welcome in my book. And, their high content Add the shrimp and toss to coat with the ‘Azucar’ is widely considered the of iron, potassium, magnesium, beta marinade, cover and refrigerate for two hours. national mango of Colombia, as its carotene and vitamins C, B1, B2, B3 Arrange the ceviche mixture in a decorative flavor speaks to the tropical lowlands and B6 makes them a valuable addition bowl or martini glass and serve chilled. and sweet cane sugar. to the fruit basket. explaining

For kids, summer is the perfect family 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 FUN reading, here are some great ways to keep eager minds working, all while with nature having fun exploring and engaging with nature, either at Fairchild or in By Sara Zajic 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 re- grow 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. Pounding up a cereal box and turn it so that the plain cardboard side faces out. Decorate the cover, and then use yarn or For young artists, start a fashion trend using the ribbon to bind the journal. Have your young naturalists pigments of nature. This activity is best done outdoors sit outside and use their senses to explore and make and lets your designers express themselves while getting observations. Use a magnifying lens to see, up close, out a little extra energy. Pick several brightly colored the bugs and plants interacting. Listen to the sound of and from the garden and arrange them the wind. How does it make you feel? in a pattern on top of a cotton shirt or bandana. Place a piece of wax paper over the plant materials and Have your young naturalists take their journals on field get to pounding! Once you have the desired effect, trips, too. There are lots of exciting local nature centers move on to another piece until you’ve completed your to visit, and some of them are even free. On August 25, artwork. When you have the perfect pigmentation, Everglades National Park will offer free admission for allow the piece to dry and heat set with a dry iron on the National Park Service’s birthday. Bring your journal low temperature. The poundings should not be washed, on a visit and compare and contrast what you see there but they can be dry-cleaned. Now go and show your to the nature you see in your neighborhood. pounded piece with pride! Play with Your Food All that, and More! For amazing exposure to nature and plants from all Set up an experiment that gives young scientists an over the world, sign up for Fairchild’s Junior Naturalist inside look at what plants need as they grow some Summer Camp. Each weeklong session focuses on different yummy veggies. Using small pots or cups, plant 12 topics, ranging from Plant Explorers to Outdoor Skills beans (green beans work particularly well). Label three to Conservation. Campers become scientists, creative as the “control,” three as “low light,” three as “singing“ thinkers, artists and conservationists through hands-on and three as “soda.” Make a hypothesis by guessing activities, experiments and crafts. All the camps are which plants will grow the fastest. Place the three held in the one-of-a-kind Garden, and camp runs from control pots in a sunny spot and water every other day. June 16 through July 25. Space is limited, so sign up today. The three labeled “low-light” should receive the same amount of water as the control plants, but place them in For fun with the whole family, check out Fairchild’s a shady spot. For the three labeled “singing,” give them new LEAF program. One weekend each month, there the same light and water as the control plants, but talk will be free activities in The Learning Garden, perfect or sing to them every day. The soda group gets the same for all ages. 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 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 (L-R) Director of Volunteer Services Arlene Ferris Juanita Bayard and Garden Director Dr. Carl Lewis. and Volunteer of the Year Kay Chouinard.

e often mention how President Bruce Greer and Director of Juanita Bayard has been volunteering valuable our volunteers Volunteer Services Arlene Ferris. All three at the Garden since 2004, and has are, and earlier this year, praised the dedication of our volunteers, contributed more than 5,000 hours. She we were able to show evident in their combined 80,000-plus has assisted in various functions, including Wthem just how much we appreciate them. hours of service last year. You read that admissions, education, membership and The Volunteer Appreciation Brunch took correctly—that’s 80 thousand hours. volunteer services. “Volunteering here place on March 19 in the newly renovated has to be treated like a job,” Bayard said. Garden House. Fairchild staff once again The gathering also celebrated volunteer “Our responsibilities are vital in keeping turned the tables on our volunteers and anniversaries with pin presentations our Garden functioning as it needs to, but hosted, prepared and served more than 80 commemorating service from five to at the same time it’s a lot of fun.” different dishes, including Jamaican jerk 40 years, and the Bertram Zuckerman chicken, Indian samosas, Vietnamese spring Volunteer of the Year Awards. This year’s Kay Chouinard has been volunteering rolls, mango bread, scones, dozens of salads honorees are quite visible to all Garden since 2008, contributing more than and two tables of desserts—there was truly visitors. As two “faces of the Garden,” 3,000 hours to ensure a smooth flow of something to appeal to every appetite. Juanita Bayard and Kay Chouinard operations not only at the busy South can often be found guiding guests and Entrance, but also in admissions and More than 300 volunteers came and directing foot traffic at the Garden’s South membership. “I feel it’s a privilege to celebrated. They’re a fun group who Entrance. Both women often summon volunteer at Fairchild,” Chouinard said. clearly enjoy each other’s friendship and their extensive knowledge of Fairchild and “I feel I get more out of being a volunteer camaraderie—this was not your typical combine it with a smile and diplomacy here than what Fairchild gets from me.” reserved work brunch. They were all to work through any and all situations eager to hear speeches from Fairchild they encounter. Director Dr. Carl Lewis, Board of Trustees 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 Some of the 2014 Anniversary Pin recipients gathered in front of the Garden House were there at the start.” after the brunch. Volunteers wear their service pins proudly, and the longevity of their service attests to their dedication to the Garden’s mission. Lewis reminded everyone that, “the Garden truly could not function without 2014 Anniversary Pin Recipients its volunteers. There’s no way all of what we do could be accomplished without 35 Years of Service 10 Years of Service Betts Faust your selfless dedication and love Barbara Katzen Maureen Adelman Mary-Anne Goseco of Fairchild.” Josefina Assa Magdalena Goudie 30 Years of Service Nancy Baldwin Twila Grandchamp Bruce Greer Juanita Bayard Gulcin Gumus Roger Hammer Tom Brown Susan Hangge Miguel Carson Susan Heckerling 25 Years of Service Joe Cummings Mary Rankin Jackson Elizabeth McQuale Jim Cunningham Polly Kinslowe 20 Years of Service Jane Davidson Joel Kolker Lavinia Acton Polly Edwards Susan Pettapiece Leonard Abess Ginny Guin Lucy Petrey Alejandro Aguirre Barbara Lalevee Wendy Robbins Elizabeth Beach Lin Lougheed Louise Ross Joyce Burns Margaret Martin Candy Sacher Phyllis Goldstein Marigrace McCabe Sandy Sadlak Pat James Betty Oglesby Adam Schachner Yonna Levine Paula Permetti Jim Schmucker Jan Luykx Susan Petersen Lola Schobel Tom Moore Janet Reed Tighe Shomer Nancy Roberts Susan Spatzer Wings of the Tropics Day Captains Lane Park (L-R): Ted Adelman, Ann McMullan, Jim Berlin, Josef Pommer Mary Jo Robertson Britt Steinhardt Mimi Schwar, Jim Schmucker, Kathy Jones, John Soliday Sandi Smith John Struck Glenn Huberman and Jeff Kaplan. Not shown: Margie Tabak Tom Abell, Frances Aronovitz, Anita Cody, Bill Carmen Woodbury Barbara Willig Quesenberry, Mary Teas, Molly Whitman. At the Angela Whitman Deborah Van Coevering brunch Jeff Kaplan was quick to acknowledge 15 Years of Service Lorna Whyte Ted Weiss that the captains’ success depends on the great volunteers who serve on their teams! Louise Bennett Molly Whitman Rosie Haning 5 Years of Service Pat Herbert Julie Petrella Arch Lynda LaRocca Marlyn Asbel Adele Mucha Josie Batista Moyna Prince Marianne Bienstock Neice Schreiber Ann Chitty Carol Dieringer Luisa Duran Teresa Duran

16 THE TROPICAL Garden 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. The Latin American Triplaris cumingiana, or Long John, produces one-seeded dried known as achenes. The achenes have three thin reddish calyces (the collective term for plant ) 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. W ind, , water or human dispersed, seeds and their packaging—be it fancy or plain—have become my new obsession. Theclever, 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.

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. 18 THE TROPICAL Garden 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.

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. Ptychosperma palms are fast-growing, Each compressed section contains tightly slender, palms that produce enormous and perfectly arranged winged seeds amounts of seeds—most of which will (samaras, as Bulnesia arborea produces). sprout if given the opportunity. Yet, they The wings are dry membranes that were are able to take South Florida’s climate part of the fruit wall. When you find one and soils and are resistant to with the pedicel or stalk still attached, the lethal yellowing. structure looks like a baby’s rattle. 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 Aristolochia vines form seedpods that (rainforest rodents from Central and South split along six seams. Inside some pods, America that resemble large guinea pigs) winged seeds are held in position by a or large disperse the seeds or they system of interlocking tissue that dries remain not far from the tree. 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 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- 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 Senna polyphylla, desert plants found in the South Florida Butterfly Garden. senna, is native to Puerto They are but a few of what you’ll find blooming Rico, Hispaniola and the during the summer. Virgin Islands. Sulphur butterflies use the plant as Callicarpa americana is native a host for their larvae. Pale from Florida to Texas and the yellow flowers camouflage West Indies. Its delicate pink the butterflies and, when disturbed, it appears that flowers provide nectar for the flowers are lifting off into the air. many species of butterflies. Birds are attracted to the Calotropis gigantea (shown) brilliant purple fruit, making and Asclepias curassavica are this shrub very popular with wildlife. two plants in our Butterfly Garden that attract monarchs Lantana involucrata is native to their nectar and provide through a wide range, from the proper diet of leaf material peninsular Florida through for their larvae. Don’t be Central America, the West surprised to see leafless stems—it means the Indies and South America, all monarch larvae have had a delicious meal! Neither the way to the Galapagos. It’s a plant is native to Florida, but again, this doesn’t shrub with fragrant, gray-green matter to the monarchs. leaves and white or pink flowers with a yellow center. The fragrance of the flowers draws many different There is a nationwide effort to provide nectar and types of butterflies, from tiny skippers to swallowtails. host plants for the monarch butterfly, which is When crushed, the leaves emit an unusual fragrance. threatened by disease and habitat disruption. From my experience, this fragrance varies between plants—from a soapy smell to the aroma of sage. Visitors to Fairchild can obtain a plot map of the Garden, which includes a list of currently A very familiar plant in the flowering plants, at the Shehan Visitor Center, the landscape, Pentas lanceolata, South Entrance Gate and the information kiosks is actually native from located throughout the Garden. Volunteers at Ethiopia to Mozambique, the Visitor Center information desk also have a the Comoros Islands and the complete list of Fairchild’s plants. Arabian Peninsula. It has been hybridized many times Our website is an invaluable resource for Garden to produce various shades of red, pink and white information, including lists of plants with their flowers. Our native butterflies love the nectar locations—organized by both common and despite its foreign origins. scientific names—a downloadable map of the Garden with plot numbers and a resource of The red-flowered tropical blooming plants for each month. sage, Salvia coccinea, not only draws butterflies to its nectar—it also has the perfect Visit www.fairchildgarden.org to find all this, plus information about gardening, shape and color to attract horticulture, conservation and plant . This native of science, as well as information about all the southeastern of Fairchild’s exhibits.

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IS ANYTHING BUT SLOW!

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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 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 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 Anolis carolinensis 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” How You Can 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. Encourage and Protect Your 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 garden 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 anoles of speed; they can run, but they don’t know how to walk. By Mike Freedman 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 s Garden residents, it’s hard to beat our daytime feeding them—they’ll dine on your unwanted , lizards, the anoles. They eat insects—great for but when it’s been dry for a long period, you might A us—and are highly entertaining to watch, as they consider spraying some water on your bushes. Thirsty display, chase and gobble unwary cockroaches. In South anoles will run over to lick up water drops on leaves. Florida, you’re likely to see four species, each with a Try to discourage predators, such as cats and terriers. particular preferred habitat, special appearance Consider establishing a safe area that will be difficult and behavior: for pet predators to access. Here are a few more small Anolis carolinensis things that you can do to protect these helpful creatures: Our only native anole. Sometimes called “green anole,” Mowing “Carolina anole” or “chameleon” (it’s definitely not a Anoles like to hunt a few feet out from their “safe true chameleon), its color ranges from various shades of zones” of bushes and plant beds. Often, a mower brown to bright green and it has a pink dewlap (throat can cut them off (literally) from that safe zone. If, just pouch). Look for this anole on something elevated—a before mowing, you can walk the edges of plant beds, wall, a fence, a tree trunk—and, rarely, on the ground. 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.

26 THE TROPICAL Garden Fun with Anoles 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 Anolis distichus. you as some sort of oddly shaped tree and decide to Photo by Kenneth Setzer/FTBG climb on your shoe. This can be fun for kids with lots of patience. Less patience is required to view sleeping Indoors anoles. An hour after dark or before dawn, go out with Anoles cannot survive in your house. Your dog may a flashlight and look at some of the lower horizontal be able to drink from the big porcelain water bowl, leaves on shrubs. You’re likely to see anoles stretched but it is inaccessible to anoles. Be humane and show out, immobile, with their eyes closed. them the way out. Should you see lizards on your wall at night, they are probably geckoes. Geckoes are It’s also possible to arrange a nice meal for anoles, generally able to survive fine inside houses; a bonus: with either of their two favorite foods: cockroaches They eat insects! or maggots. The procedure is the same for either. Take a piece of cardboard or a garbage can lid with Walking and cycling roaches or maggots on it and toss it onto an open You’ve probably been surprised and irritated by space, like a patio. As the insects emerge, watch the lizards that dart out in front of your foot or bike tire. anoles come running over for the banquet. This is the same situation that we saw with mowing. Anoles go out onto the sidewalks and may even cross The last fun activity is to have an anole sit on your the sidewalk to look for insects and socialize. When hand. Kids should love this one, but care is needed. cycling, I try to go slowly in zones with heavy anole This is best done in summer, when there are lots traffic. If you’re walking, try slowing down when of baby anoles in the grass. You can put one hand you pass bushes and keep to the side without bushes on the ground near the anole and encourage it to when possible. That should give anoles time to get go toward that hand by moving your other hand in back to their safe zones. the grass. If done right, you’ll guide the lizard right onto your hand. It’s best not to try to grab lizards, in Eggs general. Their tails come off easily and that can really Anoles lay eggs in spring and summer. The eggs are, traumatize kids, but you could take this opportunity well, egg-shaped and generally about a quarter inch to explain that it’s normal, the tail grows back and across (A. equestris eggs are about an inch across). coming off allows the lizard to escape predators. They’re white and rubbery, like small oblong rubber balls. Eggs are laid in the upper half inch of soil and Anoles—they’re a bit of wild nature that has taken up leaf matter. You might encounter them in summer, residence in our gardens to engage in cleanup when weeding or even when working with potted and provide pleasure for us in the process. plants. The best thing to do is to rebury them to about the same depth as they were buried by the female anole.

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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.

any of our cycads were cycad genera Ceratozamia, Chigua, Dioon, donated to the Garden in its Microcycas and Zamia. Encephalartos and early years by our founder, Stangeria are found in Africa. One species Col. Robert Montgomery. of Cycas is found in a small area of Kenya, MSince then, numerous species from but it is believed that it was brought there around the world have been added to the sometime in the last 1,000 years. All collection, making it an invaluable resource other Cycas species are from Australia, for scientists studying this fascinating order Asia and Malesia. At Fairchild we have of rare plants and for visitors appreciating representatives of all genera except Chigua. their unusual and primitive beauty. The oldest plant at Fairchild is a cycad: Cycads are gymnosperms, along with Dioon edule. One Dioon edule (found in conifers and gingko, meaning they are not the Cycad Circle) made a circuitous path among the flowering plants (angiosperms). from Edinburgh, Scotland, to Milwaukee, They are dioecious (plants are either male Wisconsin, to Naples, Florida, and finally or female) and reproduce by developing was donated to Fairchild in 1940. One leg a cone containing seeds. Some cones Dioon edule of its journey is unknown: How did it get can become very large—a foot or more from its native Mexico to Scotland in the in length—and many are bright red, from the wild for their starch-producing first place? When purchased in Scotland orange or yellow. Sometimes called “fossil businesses. Fortunately, conservation in 1867 it was reputed to be at least 100 plants,” cycads were abundant throughout efforts have prevented the loss of this years old. It still thrives in Plot 124 of the world more than 200 million years incredible plant, the only known host Cycad Circle. ago. Now reduced in range and number, for our native atala butterfly. Today, all A few of the more tropical Zamia species cycads comprise 250 species, compared cycads are covered by the Convention on must be protected from South Florida’s to flowering plants’ 300,000 species. International Trade in Endangered Species mildly chilly winter temperatures. They can of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Used as ornamentals, cycads can be a be found in the Tropical Plant Conservatory, beautiful part of the landscape. But taking All cycads have toxins in every part of where they flourish and reproduce. plants from the wild for this purpose has the plant. Animals grazing on them suffer Look for our other magnificent cycads in threatened the existence of many species. severe symptoms and possible death. the Montgomery Palmetum, Cycad Circle For instance, only male plants of the Proper processing of the plant material, (Plot 124) and the Cycad Vista. These African species Encephalartos woodii such as boiling the coontie root for starch, ancient, sturdy plants can remind us of remain in the wild. The Florida native is essential if it’s going to be consumed. how recently we humans have occupied cycad, Zamia integrifolia—the coontie— Cycads can be found globally in tropical the planet and the need to preserve our was almost collected out of existence and subtropical climates with moderate to natural history. when pioneer settlers gathered plants high rainfall. The Americas are home to the advertisement xotic Orchids in a Lush Tropical Setting

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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.

ach year, we care for our trees and await the has led us to the point we are at today. All around harvest. Each year we face challenges, with us, we have mangos big and small, red and yellow, nature seemingly pitted against the crop, but sweet and sour and truly amazing. All of this mango summer eventually arrives and so, too, does diversity and delicious economic potential came from the mango. Yes, the mango comes through a thorough shuffling of the genetic deck, a keen eye Efor us. We shaped the fruit into our Western and an undying tenacity. ways, poked and prodded until it was exactly what we wanted and was something we could exploit for We are now more than a century removed from the income. It is ours. innovative work of David Fairchild, and the mango is in need of another makeover. A host of old and Dr. David Fairchild was the mastermind behind the new pests and diseases nip at the mango’s heels. The transformation of the mango from a traditional Asian climate, ever-changing, challenges the mango each fruit to a marvel of modern fruit growing. More than year. We are nervous, even desperate to intervene, a century ago, he had an innovative vision for the but surely we should not submit to the chem-agro mango that has paved the way for the introduction mindset of mango growing to be successful. What of hundreds of cultivated varieties from around the of our green future and that of our children? No, we globe into South Florida. He and a handful of mango must be strong in our convictions and in our science. pioneers assured the mango’s propagation and care We must take a step back in the genetic sense to and facilitated its cross breeding and the selection of move forward into the next millennium. superior progeny. This long road of vision and science

32 THE TROPICAL Garden Unlocking the Potential to the conclusion that the vast majority of wild of the Wild Mango mangos would not adapt to South Florida. We have spent the last 25 years attempting to disprove this So onward we go into the forests of Borneo and commonly held belief. We have had some success Southeast Asia to learn of, and cultivate, the wild and much failure. Forty trees may not seem like much mangos that grow there. These 70 or so edible species of a track record for 25 years of collecting, but there offer adaptability to the most inhospitable of mango is no script available to go by. Identification, location, climates. Each is genetically distinct from the cultivated collection, propagation and care in the field have mango that we all know. Each has its own name been done without a template, and yet here these trees among the tribal people who rely upon them. They grow, bloom and fruit, swaying in the ocean breezes. range from huge to tiny in fruit size and burst forth in a dizzying array of colors, shapes and flavors. They grow So, how does this winding story relate to our in swamps and at higher altitudes throughout Southeast backyards and commercial orchards in South Florida Asia and are a staple for man and beast alike. Yet, and the Americas? As we pen this article, we have these wild relatives of the cultivated mango remain new crossbreeds hanging from our caged trees at largely a mystery, with little understanding of their Fairchild. These crosses will be among the first cultivation, their propagation or even their genetic between wild mangos and some of our high-yielding, identity. Confusion surrounds the wild mangos around most-modern mango cultivars. The seeds within these the globe with many more questions than answers, fruit hold the future—a future without concern about but the potential is there; it lays dormant within them. untimely rains, without the application of costly Now is the time to unlock this potential. fungicides and with novel new fruit.

At Fairchild, we grow more than 40 accessions of We will plant these seeds and nurture the saplings wild mango in the living collections, constituting 25 until they bear their sweet fruit. We will select new species or more. Prior to these introductions, wild superior specimens that have disease tolerance, mangos were represented in South Florida by three high production and the ability to adapt to our ever- or four recognized species. This handful of species changing climate. The road is a long one, by no was made up of multiple duplicate trees of a single means easy or guaranteed, but each journey begins introduction made many years ago by Dr. Fairchild. with a single step. Our journey started back in 1889 Other introductions of wild mangos had been with David Fairchild and there is much road left to attempted in the past, but they were unsuccessful, travel. His legacy depends on us, and so, too, the very leading mango pundits—including David Fairchild— 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 ‘’ and ‘jeruk’ and eaten with fish. Photo by Noris Ledesma/FTBG

summer 2014 33 Message in a Bottleneck The Mango’s Journey Revealed 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.

angos are grown on every continent except Antarctica, and everywhere they are grown, they are wildly M 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 Mangos found their way to the sandy beaches of the Caribbean during the 1700s. cultural artifacts, it is estimated that the mango has Photo by Emily Warschefsky/FTBG been cultivated in that region of the world for more than 4,000 years. The mango is significant to many introduced to eastern Mexico. The first records of religions of South Asia, particularly Hinduism and mangos in Florida do not appear until 1833, though Buddhism, and it is said that Buddha himself was it is likely that the ‘Turpentine’ mango—named given a grove of mango trees under which to rest and after its characteristic acrid flavor—had already meditate. Buddhist monks likely began to introduce been introduced by that time. In 1889, Dr. David the mango into Southeast Asia during the third Fairchild, working for the U.S. Department of century B.C. Agriculture, brought the first grafted Indian varieties back to South Florida. Although the mango took More than a millennium passed before the mango its time getting here, it was not long until our local began its journey westward out of India, making its mango industry began to make its mark, producing way to east Africa through Persian trade routes during cultivars that, even today, are some of the most the 10th century. During the 1500s, Portuguese popular in the world. traders spread the mango to their colonies throughout Africa. The mango reached the shores of the While historical documents allow us to piece Americas only in the early 1700s, brought to Brazil together a rough timeline of the mango’s migration by the Portuguese. From there, it spread into the around the world, the impact that this series of Caribbean during the middle of the century. introductions had on the mango’s genetic diversity is a fundamental question that remains unanswered. The Spanish first introduced the mango to Acapulco, Mexico during the late 1700s, bringing it across the The extent to which a crop has lost genetic diversity Pacific Ocean from Manila, in what was then the over time is of interest to agriculturists and scientists Spanish East Indies (and is now the ). alike. During the process of domestication, crops Shortly thereafter, Caribbean mangos were lose genetic diversity, as a few individuals with

summer 2014 35 Crop genetic diversity has been lost

Wild species Traditional crops Modern crops Human selection for certain traits during domestication results in a High diversity Moderate diversity Low diversity 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 Domestication Migration and ability of breeders to produce varieties that can survive disease Bottleneck Breeding Bottleneck 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 FIU/Fairchild graduate student Emily Warschefsky extracts DNA from mango leaves collected at the Fairchild Farm. The first step: using liquid annual plants, long-lived species usually take many nitrogen to freeze the leaves, then crushing them to a fine powder. years to reach reproductive age when planted from seed. Therefore, perennial species have been under and cultivars are being lost, and domesticated species cultivation for far fewer generations than annual continue to lose valuable genetic diversity that species. Because the weeding out of individuals could be key to crop improvement efforts. In order with less-desirable traits can only happen every to preserve the diversity of a crop like the mango, generation, long-lived species have experienced less scientists need a basic understanding of the crop’s selection, and are more likely to have maintained current diversity. Using this information, geographic higher levels of their original genetic diversity. In regions that harbor high levels of diversity can be addition, perennial species often require pollination identified and prioritized for conservation. by another, genetically distinct, individual in order to set fruit, thereby promoting the mixing of genes. In Researchers at Fairchild and Florida International contrast, the ability of annual species to self-pollinate University are analyzing DNA from the hundreds can be exploited to create “true-breeding” lines of mango cultivars grown at Fairchild, which of seed, which, though agriculturally useful, have originate from across the globe. This will help decreased genetic diversity. identify geographic regions with high mango genetic diversity, and help address the issue of a loss of Today, industrialized agriculture is trending toward genetic diversity during the fruit’s introduction the selection of “elite” modern varieties that are into the Americas. This work will help us better broadly distributed and grown in monoculture—the understand the unique past, the current status and practice of cultivating a single crop grown in a wide the bright future of the mango, one of the world’s area for many consecutive years. As this practice most important fruit crops. expands across the globe, unique regional varieties

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. advertisement Living where others dare not Plants of the desert Text and photos by Kenneth Setzer

here are thousands of plants that have adapted to the driest, t 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 . 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

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1. Desert globemallow 4 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 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 5. Acton brittlebush Encelia actoni A California and native, this compact bush is a member of the large 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.

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9. Desert trumpet 12 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 platyphylla These produce a rosette of fleshy, green-spotted leaves flat against the gravelly desert floorplatyphylla ( 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 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.

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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. advertisement

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Debra DeMarco www.ddmhorticulture.com 6790 SW 74 Street B.S. Ornamental Horticulture. Tel. (305) 663 0993 Cel. (305) 710 8848 South Miami, FL 33143 edible gardening

An Epiphany in The Edible Garden

By Richard J. Campbell, Ph.D.

n old adage says that you are what you backyard gardens offer a snapshot of eat, and at times this concept can be local trends. The produce section of the local rather unsettling. Take as an example grocery store is the meeting place for the the contrast between eating fruits and international horticulturist, and out in the vegetablesA from the local grocery store versus backyards of the towns and countryside I have those from your own home edible garden. To get come across many a fellow professional. to the grocery store, you have to drive or walk to a glaring, lifeless parking lot. Inside the store Some grocery stores, too, have changed with you are struck by the glass, plastic, metal and the times, reaching out to local communities for cardboard packaging that force order and control products grown closer to home or sponsoring over every inch of food. The fresh produce farmers markets in their parking lots. This is a section is cold and lifeless as well. There is no good trend and will hopefully continue, but the aroma of ripening peaches, no stirring of primal story that is told in their aisles remains largely instincts to devour a ripe mango. unchanged due to the need for year-round supplies and low costs. This consistency within In the edible garden there is life—the fruit and the grocery store is not bad. Here, we can get vegetables that you planted by your own hands fresh fruit and vegetables around the year. There are a living testament to the real world. You walk is grand diversity and excellent quality if you are through the familiar, shady paths of your backyard. willing to pay the price. All is green, full of life and vigor. Life thrives here. The order of the edible garden is in the disorder of But, as residents of South Florida we have a life, in the ravaged leaves, the verdant asymmetry. unique opportunity to grow and consume our The edible garden is not perfect, and that is what own fresh produce. In the edible garden there is gives it such power. Here is nature at her best and no air conditioning. The aromas of the fruits and worst, full of sweat and sweet reward. vegetables are free to tempt you, acting upon long-dormant senses. The experience is unique It is within the edible garden that lessons are given and unforgettable. Television, computers and to both young and old. It is a living classroom iPhones cannot come close to the feel, taste and managed, but not created, by mankind. One can smell of the real deal. learn the value of a dollar, for all around you is opportunity and challenge, supply and demand. We live in unprecedented economic, social and The summer rains come and cast their evil spells climatic times that can be overwhelming. The over the garden tomatoes, leaving one to view the edible garden can help to ease that anxiety. We, grocery store version in a different light. How can as a community, are thinking more about local they have a seemingly equal product 365 days of agriculture and community gardening. These are the year? Where do they come from? The edible wonderful activities that nourish both the body garden is both classroom and teacher. The lessons and the soul. Remember that you are what you are numerous and free. eat. Keep on gardening and producing for your own table. Embrace your community, and of As a professional horticulturist, the edible garden course, eat your veggies! 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

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.

hina has a 2,000-plus-year tradition of always-on-the-go modern folks, pills made from the using orchid species as herbal medicines orchid are available. This orchid frequently shows or health food supplements. Some 350 up on prescriptions by doctors who practice TCM. species—a quarter of the total Chinese orchid species—are used in traditional Dendrobium species, (石斛 in Chinese, CChinese medicine (TCM). Of those, 97 are Chinese pronounced as “Shi Hu”) are epiphytic orchids endemics. Here are some examples of traditional (they live on other plants) mostly found in tropical and modern-day uses of these edible orchids: Asia and the Pacific islands. Around 40 species of Dendrobium are consumed for various health Gastrodia elata Blume, (天麻 in Chinese, purposes in China, many of them plants with showy pronounced as “Tian Ma”) is a perennial orchid flowers. The most prominent of all isDendrobium that is saprophytic—it obtains nutrients from dead catenatum (铁皮石斛 in Chinese, pronounced as organic matter. It is one of the most prominent “Tie Pi Shi Hu”), which is used both in prescribed

Previous page traditional Chinese herbal medicines, and has been medicine and as a health food supplement. Its stem, A beautiful blooming used for more than 2,000 years in the treatment and more recently flowers, are consumed directly Dendrobium catenatum, or Tie Pi Shi Hu. of headache, vertigo, hemiplegia (paralysis of one as tea or mixed in soup. Its popularity began with its

BELOW side of the body) and infantile convulsions. The use as a tonic by traditional vocal artists seeking to Dendrobium display, shot underground tuber is used; traditionally, it is often protect their voices. Its use has extended to cancer through a shop window in . mixed in chicken soup, in tea or in sugary water prevention and cure, as a boost to the immune Photo by Carl Lewis/FTBG with the Chinese date (Ziziphus jujuba Mill). For 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.

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 TOP orchids in the West. A third interesting orchid in this the species in the Yachang Orchid National Nature A bowl of expensive category is Gymnadenia spp. (手掌参 in Chinese, soup with Gastrodia elata Preserve, a newly established protected area in pseudobulbs as an ingredient. pronounced as “Shou Zhang Shen”), used to ease southwestern China, he was led to a site with a few coughs. Most of these orchids are consumed as BOTTOM plants by a local farmer only after he agreed to be Cleaned and dried expensive soup dishes in high-end restaurants. blindfolded so he would not be able to return. pseudobulbs of Gastrodia elata, ready to be cooked in soup. These species are all listed in the 2010 Edition of Other orchid species are also in peril because of the State Pharmacopoeia Commission of P.R. China, too much medicinal demand. Dendrobium spp. is an authoritative encyclopedia on Chinese as well another affected orchid: Trade volume of medicinal as accepted western medicine. Wild populations Dendrobium reached 600,000 kilograms of fresh of these edible orchids are simply unable to keep weight annually in the 1980s in China. All of it was up with human demand for them. These uses have wild gathered, and trade volume has since declined become unsustainable. as natural populations have become exhausted. This phenomenon can be seen in the limestone When Medicinal Demand Becomes regions of Guizhou and Guangxi, which constitute Unsustainable: The Gastrodia elata China’s main traditional Dendrobium trading posts. In these regions, the trade volumes of several and Dendrobium stories county-level markets reached 10,000 to 40,000 For more than 2,000 years, G. elata has been a kilograms each annually in the 1980s and 1990s. highly prized orchid in traditional Chinese medicine, However, no large-volume trade has been recorded 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. 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.

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, high- A flowering stalk of the value species such as these medicinal orchids are saprophytic orchid Gastrodia elata or Tian Ma. vulnerable to poaching in Chinese nature reserves, which are under-funded and under-staffed. In in any of these markets in the late 2000s, and wild addition, under-educated rangers sometimes turn Dendrobium plants available in recent years have into poachers themselves. largely come from neighboring Vietnam and Laos. Cultivation for Restoration and Use: This insatiable market demand has decimated accessible Dendrobium resources in China, and has A New Approach to Conservation started to impact wild populations in neighboring All these factors call for alternative conservation countries. The most devastated Dendrobium strategies for these heavily exploited orchid species species is D. catenatum. All of its currently known in China. One new mode, known as restoration- remaining populations are small and sparsely friendly cultivation, takes advantage of the epiphytic distributed. Several pocket populations of this trait of the medicinal Dendrobium orchids and species that were under investigation suffer from reintroduces and/or augments them in natural extremely low pollinator visitation and fruit set, forests. This unconventional mode of endangered likely the result of too small of a flowering display, species reintroduction allows for sustainable as only a small number of flowers open in a given harvesting to address concerns of poaching and area in any given day during the flowering season. the local economy in and around nature reserves. Because Dendrobium orchids are epiphytic, Motivated by market demands in the face restoration-friendly cultivation of these species of depleted natural resources, mass artificial will not be at the expense of other native plants. cultivation of Dendrobium orchids, including D. In addition, market premiums on wild-collected catenatum, has been developed recently. This mass medicinal plants generate incentives for farmers production uses modern in-vitro seed germination who participate in restoration-friendly cultivation to and tissue culture techniques. It is estimated that preserve natural forests. Implemented properly, we artificial cultivation, mostly done in industrial shade may just be able to eat our orchids and have them houses, currently covers around 500 hectares of for the future, too. area and produces orchids with a total market value of $39 billion.

50 THE TROPICAL Garden what’s in store It’s All About Mangos! By Erin Fitts Photos by Rey Longchamp

Fruits of Warm Climates The Great Mango Book Guide to the Mangos of the World By Julia Morton, $69.95, softcover By Chef Allen Susser, $17.99. By Dr. Richard Campbell and or $129.95, hardcover. Renowned chef Allen Susser shows 50 Noris Ledesma, $6.95. New, reprinted versions of the classic delicious ways to serve up this delicious Fairchild’s authors have compiled an bestseller provide comprehensive botanical fruit in recipes such as mango lassi, identification brochure for mangos of the world, and horticultural information about a wide green mango chutney and shrimp including information on the height and fruiting range of tropical fruit-bearing plants. wand mango curry. 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

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For American Orchid Society membership information and benefits, Email: please go to www.aos.org or call the membership office at 305-740-2010. [email protected]

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The Pollen Factor By David Hardy 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 T 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.

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. Non- acidic 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 Owl and Morpho more fermented the better! butterflies congregate on a fruit feeding station. Photo by David Hardy 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 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.

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

Heliconius ismenius, Tiger by the butterfly during its lifetime, and also Heliconian, collecting pollen from contribute to the toxicity of Heliconius butterfly species, making Jatropha integerrima Peregrina. Photo by Susan Ford-Collins 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

eople who name plants Cordate (cordata), heart-shaped with sometimes take the easy way the stem attaching to the cleft: Ruizia out: “Oh, that plant has big cordata, Plot 35, has heart-shaped leaves, P flowers, so let’s call itPlantus albeit notched by beetles this time of grandiflorus.” Or, they may be politically year. (This name may or may not be astute, as was Sir Joseph Banks, the correct, according to the authoritative unofficial director of the Botanical “ on the Web.” Based on Garden of King George III, who in what we know about taxonomists, a new 1773 named the South African bird name may be in the offing!) of paradise—Strelitzia reginae—for the King’s wife, Queen Charlotte, the Digitate (digitata), divided into finger-like Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz. lobes; shaped like a hand: Adansonia digitata, that upside-down tree from Other times, people may look at a Africa with a base as big as the Ritz and plant—both the flower and the leaves— stubby limbs, has hand-shaped leaves. and decide to give the leaves a little recognition. There are many plants with Elliptic (elliptica), an oval that is longer epithets that refer to the leaves, and many than wide but broadest in the middle: characters of leaves may be described. Soldierwood, Colubrina elliptica, displays Leaves can be hairy, or hirsutus; they can perfectly elliptical leaves. be wrinkled, or rugosa; they can resemble leaves of a mimosa, mimosifolius, and so Falcate (falcata), sickle-shaped: Neofinitia on. Many plants in the Garden bear out falcata, a miniature orchid long admired the names of basic leaf shapes: in Japan, now is called Vanda falcata. Asparagus falcatus can be found on the Acuminate (acuminata), tapering to a wall along Old Cutler Road, somewhat long point or with sharply pointed leaves: near the baobab. It has large, sickle- Carpentaria acuminata, a palm found in Plots shaped leaves and pretty white flowers. 112 and 119, demonstrates this leaf shape. But note that it is a “robust” climber and Pedate (pedata), palmate with cleft sometimes is called “sicklethorn.” lobes or divisions radiating from the center: Psiguria pedata in the Wings of Hastate (hastata), spear-shaped with the Tropics butterfly conservatory shows flaring, pointed lobes at the base: Jatropha this characteristic. It is in the cucumber hastata would fit the bill if it hadn’t been family, and not long ago bore a fruit that renamed Jatropha integerrima. resembled a tiny striped cuke.

Lance-shaped (lanceolata), but wider Peltate (peltata), shield-shaped, with the in the middle: Calathea lancifolia, with petiole attached away from the margin: lance-shaped leaves, has once more been Cecropia peltata in Plot 130 has peltate tampered with by taxonomists and now is leaves, but so do the other unnamed Calathea insignis. Cecropia species in the Rainforest.

Linear (linearis), long and narrow: Croton Pinnate (pinnata), bearing two rows of linearis, a small shrub native to the pine leaflets: Arenga pinnata, the sugar palm rockland, has linear leaves, although they opposite the Tropical Plant Conservatory, aren’t particularly long. exhibits leaflets directly across from each other on their rachis or stem. Orbicular (orbicularis), circular, round and flat: You would think seagrape Sagittate (sagittaria), arrowhead-shaped: should bear that name, but while it has Look in the Rainforest for Philodendron round leaves, it is called Coccoloba sagittifolium; it is just north of the path uvifera—the feminine form of ovifero, behind the horticulture office. meaning grape-bearing. Licuala orbicularis is a difficult palm to grow, Subulate (subulata), awl-shaped with a according to expert Paul Craft, who tapering point: subulata lives photographed a specimen in Hawaii, but near the giant Borassus palm in the it may be growing in Fairchild’s nursery. Rainforest.

Ovate (ovata), egg-shaped with the broad Trifoliate (trifoliata), with three leaflets: end at the base: Crassula ovata is the Triphasia trifolia in Plot 39 is a shrub jade plant. whose genus name means parts in threes, as its flowers are in parts of three, while Palmate (palmata), like a hand with trifolia means three leaflets. outstretched fingers: Carludovica palmata flourishes on the slope leading to the Sunken Garden and is known as the A special thank you goes to Marilyn Griffiths, Panama hat plant. (The Panama hat, Fairchild’s plant recorder, who helped find the by the way, originated in Ecuador but living plants in her plant records. shipped from Panama.)

summer 2014 57 advertisement

NIELUBOWICZ & ASSOCIATES, INC. • 941-924-5077 • FAX 941-923-3204 JOB #: AH-2602 SIZE: 7.375” x 9.875” CREATED: 3/27/14 PUBLICATION: Fairchild (Tropical Garden Mag.) SPECS: 4 Color REv. DATE: RUN DATE: Summer 2014 (July) COST: CRA: 4/14/14 IMPORTANT: Please review carefully. By signing and dating this authorization, the client is approving ad content and run date(s) as shown above. E-mail approval: Judy Radice - [email protected]/305-248-7777 Mr. Leslie A. Bowe - [email protected] - 305-667-1651 x3338 - Direct 305-663-8067 Mr. Bruce Greer - 305-439-8921; [email protected] APPRovED BY: ______DATE: ______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 Watch as the seeds swell and the first leaf begins to form, lotus pushing its way out. When roots have Text and photos by Georgia Tasker formed and the first round leaf opens, plant seeds in a couple sacred lotus opens as the sun warms the morning. With the deliberate of inches of damp soil pace of a Tai Chi master, the spoon-shaped petals of Nelumbo in a bucket. 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. As the leaves develop A and rise above the When the flower opens on the second day, the stamens are less perfectly water, replant into composed as they begin to shed their pollen, while the stigmas swell and glisten a large container or pond, and add aquatic in noonday sun. A bee happens in, drawn by fragrance and imagination, before fertilizer tabs. the petals close once more.

On the third day, petals fall away, stamens collapse backwards and the next Enjoy. phase begins.

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 advertisement

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116 SD Advertising Fairchild Final.indd 1 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

he Miami-based Rare Fruit of each month at 7:30 p.m. Our meetings Council International (RFCI) feature educational programs with guest Dragon is the premier organization speakers, a tasting table with exotic fruits dedicated solely to the (fresh fruit as well as dishes prepared by Fruit Teducation about, and introduction and our members), door prizes and plant and This easy-to-grow promotion of rare tropical fruits. Founded seed exchanges. We also host field trips, climbing cactus in 1955, Miami-based RFCI has 450 plant sales, conventions and workshops. has both spectacular worldwide members. They belong to flowers and delicious fruit. an international body of dooryard and The RFCI is very excited to be hosting The plant requires support to commercial growers, hobbyists, fruit lovers our meetings at Fairchild. We have been grow. A fence, stump, tree, post or trellis and people with an interest in tropical long-time supporters of the Garden, offer good support options. Flowering is fruit. Membership includes an annual participating regularly in Fairchild’s triggered by heavy rain followed by warm subscription to Tropical Fruit News—a events, including The Ramble, the Spring weather. Fruit develop quickly and usually bimonthly, full-color magazine dedicated Garden Festival and Plant Sale and others. ripen 4-5 weeks after flowering (June- to tropical fruits and their culture. Please join us as our guests and future November). They love any fertilizer and members. Catch the excitement and mulch. They are very sensitive to herbicides Beginning in August, we will move our energy of the many facets of the RFCI. so avoid or use with caution. With the meetings to Fairchild’s DiMare Science numerous varieties available, it is a great Village, meeting on the second Wednesday 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 Silver Fellow Mr. and Mrs. Mr. and Mrs. William Pullman Education Programming Baptist Health South Florida Donald D. Slesnick II Adam R. Rose and The Ethel and W. George Mr. and Mrs. Clifford W. Mezey Mr. and Mrs. Stephen M. Takach Peter R. McQuillan Kennedy Family Foundation Ecoripe Tropicals Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Tobin Dr. and Mrs. Mrs. Kendel Kennedy Fellow Mr. Joseph A. Traina and Michael N. Rosenberg Dr. Hillary Canning Mr. and Mrs. Larry Rutherford Gulliver Schools Mr. and Mrs. K. Lawrence Gragg Mr. and Mrs. Mr. Arturo J. Xiques Plants and People Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Parker Christopher G. Tyson Mrs. Ann Ziff Program, People Living Mr. and Mrs. Frank Carreras Mr. B. Rodney White and with Alzheimer’s ExxonMobil Foundation Mr. Michael P. Williams TRIBUTE PROGRAM The Paula Cooper Gallery Garden Group of Ocean Reef Mr. and Mrs. Michael Radell Commemorative Gifts Ms. Paula Cooper The Fay P. Aronson Trust Mrs. Laura Frohman and In Honor of Adam R. Rose and Israel, Rose, Henry and Robert Ms. Fay P. Aronson Mr. Lon Ohlfest Peter R. McQuillan Wiener Charitable Mr. Joshua Kotler and Mr. and Mrs. David J. Preve Mrs. Gail R. Gremse Foundation Inc. Mrs. Christine E. Thompson- Mr. Brandon Bozek and In Memory of Violet Buckner Kotler The Million Orchid Project Ms. Katie Willse Mr. Albert Brown Global Village Charitable Trust Greenberg Traurig Mr. Alan Greer and Ms. Bianca Bruce Mr. and Mrs. Daniel R. Lewis Marh Foundation Ms. Patricia Seitz Ms. Samantha Josephs Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Swanson Nordstrom Mrs. Virginia Hester In Memory of Kathy Sorenson Mr. and Mrs. The Katcher Family Foundation Mr. and Mrs. John T. Duff Conservatory Maintenance Roger L. Rosenberger Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Katcher In Memory of Elane Nuehring The Miami Foundation Mrs. Patrizia Auricchio and Mr. Philip B. Korsant Mrs. Dorothy W. Errera Selma Alexander Fund Ms. Giulia Auricchio Mr. and Mrs. Jon Batchelor Ms. Mary Lou Stolinski Automotive Marketing Fairchild Gifts The Ella Gelvan Philanthropic Ms. Linda Raybin Consultants Inc. (AMCI) The following list combines Fund Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Winge Mr. and Mrs. William Biggs membership and gifts to Ms. Ella Gelvan In Memory of Sara Frates Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Block, MD Fairchild at the $1,000 level Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Aragon Mr. and Mrs. Block Botanical Gardens and above. Ms. Nannette Zapata and Wilson McElhinny Mr. Richard Bowers and Dr. Frank DeLaurier The Diggers Garden Club Diamond Fellow Mrs. Challis Lowe-Bowers Mr. and Mrs. In Honor of Mr. and Mrs. Paul J. DiMare Mr. Richard W. Ebsary Eugenio Sevilla-Sacasa Dr. Lin L. Lougheed and Platinum Fellow Mr. and Mrs. James R. Field, Sr. Ms. Sandy Batchelor Mr. Aaron I. Fleischman The Stamps Family Charitable Mr. and Mrs. David Frankel Mr. and Mrs. Daniel M. Bell Mr. and Mrs. Evan Reed Foundation Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Gregory J. Freeborg Mr. and Mrs. M. Anthony Burns In Memory of Mr. and Mrs. Dr. and Mrs. Phillip T. George Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Donsky Mrs. Zylpha Clinton E. Roe Stamps IV Mr. and Mrs. Irving Bolotin Mrs. Lillian Fessenden Trust of Esther A. Spachner Mrs. Bunny Bastian Mr. Edwin McAmis and Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth R. Graves In Honor of Barry and Mr. Bruce W. Greer and Mr. Gerson Gonzalez Mr. and Mrs. Allan Herbert Bobby Garber Ms. Evelyn Langlieb Greer Mr. Harve Mogul Dr. Jane H. Hsiao Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Deutsch White & Case L.L.P. Mr. and Mrs. Ms. Anne Kilkenny In Memory of Ann Marie Mrs. Jay W. Lotspeich Stephen D. Pearson Dr. Lin L. Lougheed and Raywood Bensen Robert P. and Jolyn H. Esquerre Gold Fellow Mr. Aaron I. Fleischman Mr. Carl R. Cergol and Ms. Julie A. Smith and JP Morgan Chase & Co. Dr. and Mrs. Martin R. Motes Ms. Arlene B. Ferris Mr. Paul Freas Agnes Gund Foundation Mr. George T. Neary Ms. Nola Copeland Mr. and Mrs. Ms. Agnes Gund Mr. Kenneth W. O’Keefe In Honor of Gisela Guerke John K. Shubin, Esq. and Mr. Jason Stephens Ms. Jacqueline Jacobsen

62 THE TROPICAL Garden wish list Fairchild has a wish list of items that will enhance our programs, but we Tribute Bricks In Honor of need Wish Makers. We hope you see In Honor of Kellie Stewart Mr. Leslie A. Bowe an item that you can help fulfill. Friends of Kellie Stewart Morris and Anita Broad FOR our HORTICULTURE operation In Memory of Larry Tribute Benches • 2 Tablet Notebooks, $1,500 Pendleburry In Memory of Elizabeth • 12 Golf Cart Batteries, $1,200 Pan American Orchid • Walk-Behind Aerator, $1,500 Bejar-Gonzalez Society for Ms. • Hardware for Accession Tag Mr. Boris Gonzalez Embossing Machine, $2,000 Catherine Pendlebury and family • Plant Transport Van, $20,000 In Memory of Tribute Trees FOR CONSERVATION, RESEARCH AND Bruce Berckmans In Honor of Barbara THE ONLINE HERBARIUM Pan American Orchid Weintraub • Extra-Tall Tripod, $150 Society for Ms. Shirley Ms. Lori E. Browning • Macro Zoom Lens for Sony SLR Berckmans Camera, $800 Commissioner Sally In Honor of Henry • Laptop Computer, $2,000 Heyman • New Display Giclee Prints on Canvas and Joanne The Joe and Lindy Roth for Public Events, $2,000 Mr. and Mrs. Foundation, Inc. • Plant Canopy Imager, $6,000 John Schlegel Ms. Margaret Elsea • Seed Germination Chamber, $8,500 In Memory of Susan • Mid-Size Pickup Truck, $26,400 Ms. Marlene Erven Hamilton-Smith • GPS Unit (GeoXT 6000), $8,000 Ms. Karen L. Fraser Ms. Ana-Maria Brown FOR THE RESEARCH LIBRARY Mrs. Sue H. Nichols In Memory of Cathy • World Checklists for: Araliaceae, Conifers Dr. Nancy Reierson and and Fagales, $300 Sheehan Dr. John W. Uribe FOR SPECIAL EVENTS Ms. Sheila Frazier Mrs. Carol Russo and • Mobile Kitchen, $3,000—wish fulfilled! In Honor of Fairchild Mr. Henry Mangels FOR THE FAIRCHILD FARM Tropical Botanic Garden Mr. and Mrs. Alan Byrd • Golf Cart, $7,000 Ms. Lynda L. La Rocca In Memory of Mary FOR THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE In Honor of Alberto and Elizabeth Henrichs OPERATION Gina Lever Mr. Larry Henrichs • iPad, $500 Mr. and Mrs. • Digital SLR Camera, $500 Ms. Carla S. Henrichs Samuel A. Milne FOR MEMBER AND DONOR SERVICES In Memory of Ann Marie In Memory of Hazel • Laptop Computer/LCD Projector, $2,000 Raywood Bensen Margaret Holtman • Digital SLR Camera, $1,000 Mr. John Bensen Ms. Barbara Namon FOR OUR STUDENTS In Honor of Victoria • New Vehicle for PlantMobile In Memory of Lillian and Mrs. Kathleen Hirsch Outreach Program, $25,000 Ralph Cades and Ms. Hailey Hirsch • Solar Conversion Kits for Education Mr. and Mrs. In Memory of Golf Carts, $4,000 Thomas Spencer • iPads for Explorer Field Studies Adam Badrampour In Memory of Program, $2,500 Ms. Ailyn Carrion • Laptop Computer for Lifelong Learning, Dorothy S. Oren $600 Ms. Georgia B. Tasker

• SMART Board for the Corbin Classroom, In Memory of $2,000—wish fulfilled! Jenevieve Telesco • Table-Top Easels, $125 • Art Display Panels, $1,000 Morris and Anita Broad • Dark Field Microscope, $600

• Cannon Double-Sided Feed Scanner, $3,000 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 To support Fairchild, please visit Leslie Bowe at 305.667.1651, ext. 3338, www.fairchildgarden.org/Donate [email protected] or 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

blwithoo springmed events

By Brooke LeMaire

pring at Fairchild was filled with new blooms On Mother’s Day, Fairchild celebrated moms with a and fun events. The big festival of the season was delectable brunch in the Garden House. A Mother’s April’s Spring Garden Festival featuring the 35th Day Tea was held in the Shehan Visitor Center Ballroom Annual Spring Plant Sale and Butterfly Days, which overlooking Pandanus Lake. Sfeatured thousands of plants grown by Fairchild staff and local vendors. As part of Butterfly Days, the Miami Blue A first for the Garden was Vintage Vehicles at Fairchild. Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association hosted On May 18—thanks to a partnership with the Antique lepidopterists (butterfly experts) to teach visitors the best Automobile Club of America and the Sunshine Corvette ways to attract, foster and photograph butterflies. Local Club—more than 100 beautiful vintage cars graced chefs gave cooking demos using the best foods of the the Garden, including a full assortment of Corvettes, season, as did students who competed in The Fairchild Volkswagens and many more! Challenge Green Cuisine Competition. Forty-five artists and instructors displayed more than 100 works Family Nature Night celebrated the magic of pollination of art at the Eighth Annual Fairchild Artists in Bloom exhibition and the nocturnal fauna of South Florida with Florida and sale in May. The pieces were created during classes International University’s Entomology Club and the Falcon held in the Garden and were composed of media including Batchelor Bird of Prey Center. Guests helped Fairchild’s watercolors, oils and acrylics. director, Dr. Carl Lewis, and his daughter, Eleonor, pollinate the Garden’s sausage tree in the Lowlands. A special Throughout the season, walking tours gave visitors an in- screening of the DisneyNature butterfly documentary depth look at the Garden through various themes, including “Wings of Life” was held in the Glasshouse Café. butterflies, plants of the tropics, palms andmore. New this year is the Early-Bird Walking Tour, which explores the On Earth Day, Fairchild staff and volunteers traveled to Garden’s best places to spot birds. Several plant societies Merrick Park, across from Coral Gables City Hall, to plant held their annual shows and sales, offering everything the first round of propagated orchids as part of The Million from palms to exotic plants for landscaping. And Fairchild Orchid Project. Mayor Jim Cason, Vice Mayor Bill Kerdyk and celebrated National Public Gardens Day on May 9 with Fairchild Director Carl Lewis gave welcoming remarks. The discounted admission and special activities. Coral Gables City Commission and Parknership Program are supporters of the project, which aims to reintroduce Thursday Nights at Fairchild brought in experts to discuss 1 million native orchids into South Florida’s urban topics in environmental studies, ranging from rare plants environments, with 250,000 orchids introduced throughout and ferns to butterfly macrophotography. Moonlight public areas in Coral Gables. Tours, sunset yoga classes, live music and stargazing with the Southern Cross Astronomical Society helped create Fairchild partnered with the University of Miami Frost wonderful experiences for our evening visitors. 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.

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, hand- pollinate 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

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 Ion 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.

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 David Fairchild 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 Collector of Recipes 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.” By Janet Mosely 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 “Our luncheons became the testing to market and grow foodstuffs, coupled with the outbreak of war, led to its being forgotten. For every successful times of new fruits that must be introduction that created new industries—navel oranges, avocado, mango—there were many introductions that never sampled. Callers were pressed into quite lived up to their economic promise. service for unbiased first opinions— not by any means always favorable.”

“The World Grows Round My Door, Branch of fruiting jujube (Zizyphus sativa). David Fairchild” Photo by Archives/FTBG

68 THE TROPICAL Garden Some of the recipes: In the Fairchild Archive, Nancy Korber and her volunteers Chutney Coconut Ice are always on the lookout for recipes found scattered In 1911, Dr. Fairchild Later, during that same trip, throughout the collection, whether in a Pocket Notebook was touring the Northeast Fairchild collected a recipe or buried in the text of a letter. When a recipe is found, its giving lectures about plant for Coconut Ice from a Miss location is logged in a notebook which is kept readily introduction and cultivation. He Nichols, the daughter of a at hand. obtained the following chutney grower he met in Haiti. recipe from P.J. Wester’s article 2 dry coconuts = 6 people Today, David Fairchild’s tradition of sharing recipes and “The Mango” in Bulletin No. Grate. Squeeze through cloth. cooking techniques for the fruits, vegetables and plants 19 of the Philippine Bureau Wring hard. Add 1 packet of of the world is carried on at the Garden. Noris Ledesma, of Agriculture, Manila. It is jellative melted in a little water Fairchild’s curator of tropical fruit, and Leila Werner, carry attributed to Mrs. Cora Ormsbee to the [sic]…sweeten to taste Scales of Miami, Florida. on the tradition. It also carries on through the Garden’s and set on ice to set. cooking classes, and festivals, which bring people together 6 lbs kilograms of mango pulp to learn about mangos, chocolate and other delicious plant turned but not ripe products. Dr. Fairchild would love to see the plants he 6 lbs tamarind Tangelo Ice worked so hard to introduce being shared and enjoyed by 5 lbs of stoned raisins In early 1917, Fairchild and so many. 8 kilograms brown sugar Lathrop were in South Florida to 0.5 kilo chilies visit special plant introductions 2 kilos green ginger being grown here. While at 0.5 kilo garlic or 1.5 kilo onions William J. Krome’s grove in 0.25 kilo mace Homestead, they tasted Tangelo 65 grams mustard seed Ice. Tangelos, one of the successful 15 grams cloves citrus hybrids developed by 15 grams pimento Swingle, were among the fruits 0.5 kilo table salt that Krome was growing. The 4 liters of best vinegar following recipe was invented by Mrs. L.L. Bow of Homestead Soak the tamarinds in the and produced what Lathrop vinegar, stir them about with a declared to be “…the most wooden spoon to get the pulp off delicate ice I have ever tasted.” and take out the seeds. Cut the raisins small. Peel the ginger and 1 quart tangelo juice grate it. Pound the chilies, garlic 2 cups granulated sugar and mustard seed in a mortar, 2 level tablespoonfuls flour using a little of the vinegar for 1 quart boiling water moistening. Mix all together Mix flour and sugar and pour thoroughly with the mango pulp. boiling water over it; boil five It is then ready for use. minutes; cool and then add juice; freeze. Papaya Pie A Papaya Pie recipe was found jotted down in a pocket notebook Fairchild used while visiting Nassau, Bahamas during Dr. David Fairchild’s grandchildren, the 1932 Utowana expedition Hugh and Helene Muller, tasting to the West Indies. “Kampong No. 1” a white sapote grown at the Kampong. May 13, 1941. Cook ripe papaya just as you Photo by Archives/FTBG 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 GET INVOLVED Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Become a Member 10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables FL 33156 Become a member and enjoy Garden benefits all year long. T: 305.667.1651 F: 305.661.8953 Inquiries: 305.667.1651, ext. 3301 or 3362 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Every day (except December 25) [email protected] www.fairchildgarden.org/Membership Admission: Free for Fairchild Members and children 5 and under. Non-members: $25 for adults, $18 for seniors 65 and up and Volunteer $12 for children 6-17. Become a volunteer and help the Garden grow. Inquiries: 305.667.1651, ext. 3324 Eco-discount: If you walk, ride your bike or take public [email protected] transportation to Fairchild, receive $5 off admission for adults and www.fairchildgarden.org/Volunteer $2 off admission for children. Members, remember to bring your Rewards Card to earn your gift passes! Give Donate to the Garden and help support Fairchild’s programs. Military Discount: We are pleased to offer active military Inquiries: 305.667.1651, ext. 3351 personnel free admission. Please present Military IDs. [email protected] FAIRCHILD BLOGS www.fairchildgarden.org/DonateNow Found at Fairchild Discover Fairchild past and present with Fairchild writer Kenneth EVENTS AND PRIVATE RENTALS Information about events can be found on Fairchild’s website. Setzer. www.fairchildgarden.org/FoundatFairchild Tickets for certain events may be purchased online. Interested in Gardening with Georgia having your event at Fairchild? Please call us or visit our website. Plant writer extraordinaire Georgia Tasker writes about plants and Inquiries: 305.667.1651, ext. 3359 everything Fairchild. www.fairchildgarden.org/GeorgiaTasker [email protected] Musings with Mary www.fairchildgarden.org/Events Fairchild Senior Horticulturist Mary Collins writes about horticulture in the Garden and around South Florida. SHOP AT FAIRCHILD www.fairchildgarden.org/Horticulture Visit The Shop at Fairchild for a large selection of gardening and culinary books, home decor items and unique gifts. For the Love of Mangos Inquiries: 305.667.1651, ext. 3305 Fairchild Tropical Fruit Curators Dr. Richard J. Campbell and [email protected]. store.fairchildonline.com Noris Ledesma write about traveling the globe in search of the world’s most delicious fruit. www.fairchildgarden.org/LoveMangos GET YOUR BINOCULARS The Cheng Ho Blog You may borrow a pair of binoculars to get a closer look at Fairchild’s Seventy years after Dr. David Fairchild’s famous Cheng Ho wildlife. Please ask at the Visitor Center’s information desk. expedition, you can follow the ship’s journey with daily journal entries posted in this historical blog. FOLLOW US www.fairchildgarden.org/ChengHo www.fairchildgarden.org FairchildGarden GIFTS THAT GIVE BACK FairchildGarden Give the gift of Fairchild FairchildGarden Inquiries: 305.667.1651, ext. 3351 FairchildGarden [email protected]. www.fairchildgarden.org/GiftIdeas FairchildGarden In conjunction with the 76th annual Members’ Day Plant Sale (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 Non-Profit 10% post-consumer waste and is FSC® Organization Certified using vegetable-based ink. When U. S. Postage you are finished enjoying this magazine, PAID please recycle it by sharing it with a friend. Miami, Florida Permit No. 155

colombiaFEATURINGTHE 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 fun- filled, action-packed and delicious weekend!

Presented by: Additional support from:

Mangifera indica, ‘Batchelor’ Private Bank Watercolor painting by Julio Figueroa