* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Some botanical highlights in the Gardens June 2016
Survey
Document related concepts
Evolutionary history of plants wikipedia , lookup
History of botany wikipedia , lookup
Plant nutrition wikipedia , lookup
Plant secondary metabolism wikipedia , lookup
Plant defense against herbivory wikipedia , lookup
Plant use of endophytic fungi in defense wikipedia , lookup
Plant breeding wikipedia , lookup
Plant physiology wikipedia , lookup
Plant morphology wikipedia , lookup
Ornamental bulbous plant wikipedia , lookup
Flowering plant wikipedia , lookup
Plant ecology wikipedia , lookup
Plant reproduction wikipedia , lookup
Plant evolutionary developmental biology wikipedia , lookup
Verbascum thapsus wikipedia , lookup
Transcript
Some botanical highlights in the Gardens June 2016 The numbers refer to the gardens as shown on your map. There are two flagship plants that are at their very best in the Garden this month, the giant Echiums and the Madeira Cranesbill, both endemic plants from Macronesia, the groups of islands in the north Atlantic off the coast of Europe and North Africa. Giant Echiums (Echium pinnianum and others) are the impressive towering blue spires of flowers you can find all around the Garden. They come from the Canary Islands where they grow in the native laurel forests and are endangered by habitat loss. There are many species of Echium in Europe but those on the Canaries have evolved to grow tree-like, dominating the vegetation. However, although they look like woody plants, they die after flowering. There are several species. Echium candicans, a more branched, spreading plant with beautiful deep blue flowers, grows in laurel forests on the island of Madeira, where it called The Pride of Madeira. Echium wildpretii is spectacular with narrow silvery leaves and pink flowers and it grows higher up mountains on the Canaries in the alpine zone. You can see these and several other species of Echium in the Garden but they tend to cross with one and other, giving rise to hybrids. This explains why, if you look closely, you will see a range of flower colour and growth form in the plants. Another star plant is the Madeira Cranesbill, Geranium maderense. You will find it growing en masse along the roadside bordering the Garden and in sheltered spots within the Garden. This magnificent, tender perennial is the largest and most spectacular of the Geranium species. It is a native of Madeira where it is an understorey plant of the native laurel forests, which at one time covered most of the island. What remains today is protected but, despite this, the Madeira Cranesbill is rarely seen in the wild. As the plants age, the older leaves begin to die and bend downwards. These fleshy leaf stalks return their water to the growing portion of the plant and they serve to prop up the rather top-heavy plants. Sadly, the plants will die once they have flowered. The South African Terrace (3) is now a riot of colour. There are Pelargoniums, Osteospermums, Euryops (yellow daisy bushes) and Anisodonteas (pink African mallows) each represented by different species and cultivars. If you walk to the commemorative seating area, you will find an unusual shrub in flower at the far end, bearing yellow pom-pom flowers. This one is not a South African plant but a native of Chile. It is known there as Mitique, Podanthes ovatifolius. It is a shrubby member of the daisy family. It has traditional medicinal uses amongst which, apparently, it was used for the treatment of gonorrhoea and urinary tract infections. This plant is very rarely grown in this country but a good plant of it can be seen in Chelsea Physic Garden in London. Look out for the large golden yellow spikes of Blood root Wachendorfia thyrsifolia in the South African garden. The English name refers to the red colour of the roots. It grows in marshy places in South Africa. The flowers produce abundant nectar which most insects, including honey bees, can get to easily without going anywhere near the pollen or stigmas. This is no help to the plant, which needs to use insects to pollinate the flowers. The insect which effectively pollinates the flower must be large so that it comes into contact with the pollen and stigmas but to date the insect pollinator is unknown. Another interesting feature of the flowers is that some plants produce left-handed flowers, with the stigma bent sharply to the left, and other plants produce right-handed flowers. The hard black seeds are light and given that the plant grows by watersides in the wild, this is probably an adaptation for water dispersal. In the Australian Garden (4) on the left side of the path you will notice an evergreen bush of white flowered Alpine Mint Bush Prostanthera cuneata. This is one of some 90 species of Prostanthera, all of them native to Australia. The name mint bush refers to the highly aromatic leaves and they are cultivated for their essential oils. This one is native to alpine heathlands of South East Australia. As you walk around the Australian Garden you will see several species of white-flowered Daisy Bushes (Olearia), natives of Australia and New Zealand ranging from a tall, large leaved Olearia megalophylla to the small shrubby Olearia cheesemanii, a native of New Zealand. You will also see many bushes of different Tea Trees (Leptospermum) bearing masses of attractive flowers in white, pink and red. Their name derives from the practice of early Australian settlers who soaked the leaves in boiling water to make a herbal tea rich in ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). Nectar from the flowers is harvested by bees and the Leptospermum honey produced is highly sought after. As you enter the New Zealand Garden (6), you will see another white-flowered Daisy Bush in full bloom. This one is the Twiggy Tree Daisy Olearia virgata, a native of open scrubland in New Zealand. An interesting plant to look for is Myoporum laetum, the Mousehole Tree. It is a tall bush with shiny evergreen leaves, situated behind the bench. The New Zealand name of Mousehole Tree refers to the translucent dots (oil glands) on the leaves which you can see if you hold a leaf up to the light. It bears clusters of pretty little flowers which are white with purple spots. This plant is widely planted as an evergreen species and for hedging in warmer parts of the world but, like so many plants in the Garden, it is not hardy. It is worth making a detour along a narrow path which runs below the Plantation Room Café. It is just above the number 7 on the map in your Visitor Guide. Here you will find a bush with stunning magenta tubular flowers, Inca bells or Cantua buxifolia. It was introduced to this country by a Cornish plant hunter, William Lobb and first flowered in May 1848, but, it is grown invariably a conservatory plant as it is very susceptible to the slightest frost. It is a native of Peru and Bolivia and is the national flower of Peru. It is also known as the Sacred Flower of the Incas because there is legend that it symbolised the Inca people’s unity when two ruling kings were mortally injured. From this vantage point, you can look across to the Palm Garden (7). You will see that many of the Chusan palm trees, Trachycarpus fortunei, are now bearing flowers. Some of these trees are amongst the oldest in this country having been collected by plant hunter Robert Fortune and donated to Queen Victoria. Each year, these palms produce lots of fertile seeds which germinate freely in the flower beds around the Palm Garden. In the Palm Garden (7) you will notice white flowered wands of the New Zealand Satin Flower, Libertia grandiflora. The plant has characteristic strap shaped leaves and tall flower stems with white, there petalled flowers, indicating that it is a member of the Iris family. They will flower for many months and, in you will find plants in many parts of the Garden as it spreads quite vigorously with us. This is a native of New Zealand, found along streamside and within forests, principally in the North Island. There is a fascinating plant growing in the Long Border (13) to look for this month, the Dragon Arum, Dranunculus vulgaris. It produces upright clumps of foliage with leaf stems blotched with purple and very distinctive leaves. From them emerges a rather sinister flower comprising a large purple spathe wrapped around an upright purple spadix. When the flower is ready for pollination, it emits an unpleasant smell, reminiscent of rotting meat, to attract flies. Any flies that land on the flower, slip down into it and are only released when flower withers. This is the most spectacular of the European arums. It is a native of the eastern Mediterranean where it can be found in olive groves and on waste land. In Greece, this plant is known as drakondia, the long spadix being viewed as a small dragon hiding in its spathe. You can also find this plant growing in the Mediterranean Garden (11). The Mediterranean Garden (11) is full of colour at the moment. The Giant Echiums are particularly spectacular here, but there are also bushes of various species of pink and white flowered Sun Roses (Cistus) and Jerusalem Sage (Phlomis fruticosa) with grey leaves and upright stems bearing clusters of yellow tubular flowers. Several species of Phlomis are grown in the Mediterranean Garden. In the Arid Garden (16) look for the distinctive Mexican Lily, Beschorneria septentrionalis with its long red flowering stems. This is the most northerly occurring of the seven species, native to dry woodland in the mountains of north-east Mexico where it is attractive to hummingbirds. Elsewhere in the Garden, you will find the related and more commonly grown Beschorneria yuccoides which has grey green Yucca like leaves and long flowering stems held at a jaunty angle. Another plant to look for is the Spiral Aloe (Aloe polyphylla) which is currently producing stems bearing orange tubular flowers. The succulent leaves grow in a distinctive spiral arrangement following the mathematical principle of the Fibonacci sequence, either clockwise or anticlockwise. It is an endemic of the Drakensburg Mountains at high altitude in the kingdom of Lesotho where it is endangered in the wild due to excessive collection. The flowers are pollinated by a single bird species which is itself in decline. Finally, do look for the most unusual plant growing just outside of the VBG Studio (21). It is Johnson’s Grevillea (Grevillea johnsonii) from New South Wales, Australia. The finely dissected, dark green foliage gives the impression of a weeping conifer but the flowers are unusual and extremely showy spidery coral-pink clusters. Johnson was a former director of the Botanic Garden in Sydney. It is rarely grown outside in this country. Unfortunately for us, it requires an acid soil, something which is in short supply at Ventnor. The plants have been grown in a deep bed of acid soil but their roots are now penetrating the soil beneath and the plants are4 suffering as a result. We hope you have enjoyed looking at some of the special plants which make Ventnor Botanic Garden unique. There is always something new to see here throughout the year and every visit will bring new botanical surprises.