Wonders of the San Francisco Botanical Garden
San Francisco Botanical Garden, also known as Strybing Arboretum, is full of wonders. Whenever we go, Dave and I always expect to enjoy lush growth and plentiful blooms. But on a recent visit, it seems the gardens went above and beyond their usual magic. There weren’t any orchids, but we were astounded by some stunning plants. Three of them are highlighted here. The first row of photos above shows the amazing metallic-blue flowers of the Sapphire Tower, or Chilean Rock Bromeliad, Puya alpestris. The tall, colorful spikes held the flowers right in front of us, at perfect photographing height. I’ve seen Puya blooms before, such as this one from the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley, but these were much more striking.
In the second row, there are bizarre blooms from a Monkey’s Hand Tree. The species is native to Guatemala and southern Mexico. This specimen grows arched over a pathway in Strybing’s Succulent Garden. I’d never seen the tree in bloom before. The large, red flowers are certainly fascinating and weird.
The third row of photos can’t compare in color to the first two, but it shows quite an oddity: a very rare albino redwood. Few of these mutants are known to exist, but there’s one in Strybing’s Redwood Grove. The white leaves can’t photosynthesize, so they must grow attached to a parent tree with green needles. These were growing as small suckers at the base of a large tree. Unfortunately, I suspect that some visitors were plucking them. It’s possible that these ghostly plants help their parent plant to filter toxic heavy metals. They’re just a few of San Francisco Botanical Garden’s marvels.
Explore posts in the same categories: Botanical Gardens, Photos
Subscribe to the About Orchids Blog:
