This summer, the Conservatory of Flowers gets rough and tumble as it celebrates some of the more ornery gangs of the plant world in a new exhibition. Set amongst the rusty remnants of an old ghost town, The Wild Bunch explores the strange and dramatic world of water hoarding plants, bristling with living examples of a whole host of succulents including cacti and fat plants (also known as caudiciforms).
While admiring the densely planted display featuring hundreds of varieties in a stunning array of weird shapes and unexpected colors, visitors learn about succulents’ many unusual adaptations to hostile environments from their superior water storage and drought resistance to their often painfully sharp defense against predators.
“Succulents are so wildly popular and fascinating to so many people because they are really bizarre and unique looking,” says Lau Hodges, Director of Exhibitions. “We want to help all those succulent lovers out there to understand why every tiny thing about the way these plants look is about survival. They have had to adapt to really harsh and unpredictable environments by swelling up, toughening up, turning odd colors, and even growing hair. They are the prime botanical example of form following function.”
These fleshy, and often thorny, plants are distinguished for their ability to survive the most extreme, arid conditions, and not just in deserts. Succulents have been found in parched landscapes all over the globe, even on alpine slopes where soil is thin, and have all developed unique ways to withstand long periods of drought and then suck up large quantities of water very quickly.
All succulents have either stems, leaves or roots that are more than normally sponge-like in order to store water. Stem succulents, like almost all cacti, entirely lack leaves in order to reduce surface area and prevent moisture loss, and as a result are green all over to enable photosynthesis. Leaf succulents store water in thick leaves that plump up with rainfall and shrivel during dry spells. This is perhaps the largest group ranging from the more obviously leaf-like Aloe vera to the bizarre Lithops or “Living Stones” in the ice plant family that resemble pebbles. The caudiciform succulents of Yemen and Madagascar, commonly called fat plants, have strangely swollen trunks or roots for water storage. The Adenium obesum or desert rose, with its shock of pink flowers crowning a very portly trunk, looks like something from a Dr. Seuss book. Succulents also often have a tough, waxy epidermis to lock in moisture.
Many desert-dwelling succulents have extensive, shallow root systems, spread out just below the surface of the soil to capitalize on even the smallest amount of humidity or dew. The roots of the saguaro are as wide as the plant is tall and are mostly just a half of an inch down in the soil. When it rains, this iconic symbol of the Wild West can quickly absorb and store up to 2000 pounds of water.
Thorns, barbs and hair serve multiple functions, protecting plants from predators, of course, and, just as importantly, shading plants from scorching sunlight and capturing moisture from the air to drip down to those shallow roots. Some plants become very pale in order to reflect intense sun, like the unearthly and tree-like white ghost Euphorbia.
Others just shut down during the day, only opening their stomata, or breathing pores, to take in carbon dioxide in the cool of the night when there is less chance for any resulting water evaporation. The CO2 is converted temporarily to a chemical called malic acid until daylight when photosynthesis can occur.
Some plants in arid deserts go dormant for the majority of the year and take care of all of their business—flowering, going to seed, growing—in just one short month after a good rain. To that end, many desert cacti sprout large and almost neon bright flowers to ensure that they will be hard to miss by any pollinator.
Originally, cacti were only found in the Americas, and the other succulents were mostly concentrated in southern and eastern Africa. Interpretive signs in the exhibit also help visitors to understand how people in these areas and beyond have used these plants through the ages from fermenting Agave tequiliana in Mexico to using Euphorbia sap as poison on the tips of arrows in Africa.
“We are excited to bring a new level of appreciation and understanding to this truly amazing family of plants,” says Matthew Stephens, the Conservatory’s new Director. “Succulents have been an explosive horticultural craze for the last several years. They are so easy to grow, and in the face of the persistent drought here in California, so many people now have these plants in their gardens and homes. It’s a great opportunity to invite people to learn about the compelling story of their survival as they admire both the familiar and unexpected in our exhibit.”
show less
While admiring the densely planted display featuring hundreds of varieties in a stunning array of weird shapes and unexpected colors, visitors learn about succulents’ many unusual adaptations to hostile environments from their superior water storage and drought resistance to their often painfully sharp defense against predators.
“Succulents are so wildly popular and fascinating to so many people because they are really bizarre and unique looking,” says Lau Hodges, Director of Exhibitions. “We want to help all those succulent lovers out there to understand why every tiny thing about the way these plants look is about survival. They have had to adapt to really harsh and unpredictable environments by swelling up, toughening up, turning odd colors, and even growing hair. They are the prime botanical example of form following function.”
These fleshy, and often thorny, plants are distinguished for their ability to survive the most extreme, arid conditions, and not just in deserts. Succulents have been found in parched landscapes all over the globe, even on alpine slopes where soil is thin, and have all developed unique ways to withstand long periods of drought and then suck up large quantities of water very quickly.
All succulents have either stems, leaves or roots that are more than normally sponge-like in order to store water. Stem succulents, like almost all cacti, entirely lack leaves in order to reduce surface area and prevent moisture loss, and as a result are green all over to enable photosynthesis. Leaf succulents store water in thick leaves that plump up with rainfall and shrivel during dry spells. This is perhaps the largest group ranging from the more obviously leaf-like Aloe vera to the bizarre Lithops or “Living Stones” in the ice plant family that resemble pebbles. The caudiciform succulents of Yemen and Madagascar, commonly called fat plants, have strangely swollen trunks or roots for water storage. The Adenium obesum or desert rose, with its shock of pink flowers crowning a very portly trunk, looks like something from a Dr. Seuss book. Succulents also often have a tough, waxy epidermis to lock in moisture.
Many desert-dwelling succulents have extensive, shallow root systems, spread out just below the surface of the soil to capitalize on even the smallest amount of humidity or dew. The roots of the saguaro are as wide as the plant is tall and are mostly just a half of an inch down in the soil. When it rains, this iconic symbol of the Wild West can quickly absorb and store up to 2000 pounds of water.
Thorns, barbs and hair serve multiple functions, protecting plants from predators, of course, and, just as importantly, shading plants from scorching sunlight and capturing moisture from the air to drip down to those shallow roots. Some plants become very pale in order to reflect intense sun, like the unearthly and tree-like white ghost Euphorbia.
Others just shut down during the day, only opening their stomata, or breathing pores, to take in carbon dioxide in the cool of the night when there is less chance for any resulting water evaporation. The CO2 is converted temporarily to a chemical called malic acid until daylight when photosynthesis can occur.
Some plants in arid deserts go dormant for the majority of the year and take care of all of their business—flowering, going to seed, growing—in just one short month after a good rain. To that end, many desert cacti sprout large and almost neon bright flowers to ensure that they will be hard to miss by any pollinator.
Originally, cacti were only found in the Americas, and the other succulents were mostly concentrated in southern and eastern Africa. Interpretive signs in the exhibit also help visitors to understand how people in these areas and beyond have used these plants through the ages from fermenting Agave tequiliana in Mexico to using Euphorbia sap as poison on the tips of arrows in Africa.
“We are excited to bring a new level of appreciation and understanding to this truly amazing family of plants,” says Matthew Stephens, the Conservatory’s new Director. “Succulents have been an explosive horticultural craze for the last several years. They are so easy to grow, and in the face of the persistent drought here in California, so many people now have these plants in their gardens and homes. It’s a great opportunity to invite people to learn about the compelling story of their survival as they admire both the familiar and unexpected in our exhibit.”
This summer, the Conservatory of Flowers gets rough and tumble as it celebrates some of the more ornery gangs of the plant world in a new exhibition. Set amongst the rusty remnants of an old ghost town, The Wild Bunch explores the strange and dramatic world of water hoarding plants, bristling with living examples of a whole host of succulents including cacti and fat plants (also known as caudiciforms).
While admiring the densely planted display featuring hundreds of varieties in a stunning array of weird shapes and unexpected colors, visitors learn about succulents’ many unusual adaptations to hostile environments from their superior water storage and drought resistance to their often painfully sharp defense against predators.
“Succulents are so wildly popular and fascinating to so many people because they are really bizarre and unique looking,” says Lau Hodges, Director of Exhibitions. “We want to help all those succulent lovers out there to understand why every tiny thing about the way these plants look is about survival. They have had to adapt to really harsh and unpredictable environments by swelling up, toughening up, turning odd colors, and even growing hair. They are the prime botanical example of form following function.”
These fleshy, and often thorny, plants are distinguished for their ability to survive the most extreme, arid conditions, and not just in deserts. Succulents have been found in parched landscapes all over the globe, even on alpine slopes where soil is thin, and have all developed unique ways to withstand long periods of drought and then suck up large quantities of water very quickly.
All succulents have either stems, leaves or roots that are more than normally sponge-like in order to store water. Stem succulents, like almost all cacti, entirely lack leaves in order to reduce surface area and prevent moisture loss, and as a result are green all over to enable photosynthesis. Leaf succulents store water in thick leaves that plump up with rainfall and shrivel during dry spells. This is perhaps the largest group ranging from the more obviously leaf-like Aloe vera to the bizarre Lithops or “Living Stones” in the ice plant family that resemble pebbles. The caudiciform succulents of Yemen and Madagascar, commonly called fat plants, have strangely swollen trunks or roots for water storage. The Adenium obesum or desert rose, with its shock of pink flowers crowning a very portly trunk, looks like something from a Dr. Seuss book. Succulents also often have a tough, waxy epidermis to lock in moisture.
Many desert-dwelling succulents have extensive, shallow root systems, spread out just below the surface of the soil to capitalize on even the smallest amount of humidity or dew. The roots of the saguaro are as wide as the plant is tall and are mostly just a half of an inch down in the soil. When it rains, this iconic symbol of the Wild West can quickly absorb and store up to 2000 pounds of water.
Thorns, barbs and hair serve multiple functions, protecting plants from predators, of course, and, just as importantly, shading plants from scorching sunlight and capturing moisture from the air to drip down to those shallow roots. Some plants become very pale in order to reflect intense sun, like the unearthly and tree-like white ghost Euphorbia.
Others just shut down during the day, only opening their stomata, or breathing pores, to take in carbon dioxide in the cool of the night when there is less chance for any resulting water evaporation. The CO2 is converted temporarily to a chemical called malic acid until daylight when photosynthesis can occur.
Some plants in arid deserts go dormant for the majority of the year and take care of all of their business—flowering, going to seed, growing—in just one short month after a good rain. To that end, many desert cacti sprout large and almost neon bright flowers to ensure that they will be hard to miss by any pollinator.
Originally, cacti were only found in the Americas, and the other succulents were mostly concentrated in southern and eastern Africa. Interpretive signs in the exhibit also help visitors to understand how people in these areas and beyond have used these plants through the ages from fermenting Agave tequiliana in Mexico to using Euphorbia sap as poison on the tips of arrows in Africa.
“We are excited to bring a new level of appreciation and understanding to this truly amazing family of plants,” says Matthew Stephens, the Conservatory’s new Director. “Succulents have been an explosive horticultural craze for the last several years. They are so easy to grow, and in the face of the persistent drought here in California, so many people now have these plants in their gardens and homes. It’s a great opportunity to invite people to learn about the compelling story of their survival as they admire both the familiar and unexpected in our exhibit.”
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While admiring the densely planted display featuring hundreds of varieties in a stunning array of weird shapes and unexpected colors, visitors learn about succulents’ many unusual adaptations to hostile environments from their superior water storage and drought resistance to their often painfully sharp defense against predators.
“Succulents are so wildly popular and fascinating to so many people because they are really bizarre and unique looking,” says Lau Hodges, Director of Exhibitions. “We want to help all those succulent lovers out there to understand why every tiny thing about the way these plants look is about survival. They have had to adapt to really harsh and unpredictable environments by swelling up, toughening up, turning odd colors, and even growing hair. They are the prime botanical example of form following function.”
These fleshy, and often thorny, plants are distinguished for their ability to survive the most extreme, arid conditions, and not just in deserts. Succulents have been found in parched landscapes all over the globe, even on alpine slopes where soil is thin, and have all developed unique ways to withstand long periods of drought and then suck up large quantities of water very quickly.
All succulents have either stems, leaves or roots that are more than normally sponge-like in order to store water. Stem succulents, like almost all cacti, entirely lack leaves in order to reduce surface area and prevent moisture loss, and as a result are green all over to enable photosynthesis. Leaf succulents store water in thick leaves that plump up with rainfall and shrivel during dry spells. This is perhaps the largest group ranging from the more obviously leaf-like Aloe vera to the bizarre Lithops or “Living Stones” in the ice plant family that resemble pebbles. The caudiciform succulents of Yemen and Madagascar, commonly called fat plants, have strangely swollen trunks or roots for water storage. The Adenium obesum or desert rose, with its shock of pink flowers crowning a very portly trunk, looks like something from a Dr. Seuss book. Succulents also often have a tough, waxy epidermis to lock in moisture.
Many desert-dwelling succulents have extensive, shallow root systems, spread out just below the surface of the soil to capitalize on even the smallest amount of humidity or dew. The roots of the saguaro are as wide as the plant is tall and are mostly just a half of an inch down in the soil. When it rains, this iconic symbol of the Wild West can quickly absorb and store up to 2000 pounds of water.
Thorns, barbs and hair serve multiple functions, protecting plants from predators, of course, and, just as importantly, shading plants from scorching sunlight and capturing moisture from the air to drip down to those shallow roots. Some plants become very pale in order to reflect intense sun, like the unearthly and tree-like white ghost Euphorbia.
Others just shut down during the day, only opening their stomata, or breathing pores, to take in carbon dioxide in the cool of the night when there is less chance for any resulting water evaporation. The CO2 is converted temporarily to a chemical called malic acid until daylight when photosynthesis can occur.
Some plants in arid deserts go dormant for the majority of the year and take care of all of their business—flowering, going to seed, growing—in just one short month after a good rain. To that end, many desert cacti sprout large and almost neon bright flowers to ensure that they will be hard to miss by any pollinator.
Originally, cacti were only found in the Americas, and the other succulents were mostly concentrated in southern and eastern Africa. Interpretive signs in the exhibit also help visitors to understand how people in these areas and beyond have used these plants through the ages from fermenting Agave tequiliana in Mexico to using Euphorbia sap as poison on the tips of arrows in Africa.
“We are excited to bring a new level of appreciation and understanding to this truly amazing family of plants,” says Matthew Stephens, the Conservatory’s new Director. “Succulents have been an explosive horticultural craze for the last several years. They are so easy to grow, and in the face of the persistent drought here in California, so many people now have these plants in their gardens and homes. It’s a great opportunity to invite people to learn about the compelling story of their survival as they admire both the familiar and unexpected in our exhibit.”
show less
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