Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden

The Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden is a 7-acre (2.8 ha) botanical garden located on the southeastern corner of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, California, United States. It is named after Dr. Mildred Esther Mathias Hassler (1906–1995), a noted American botanist. The director is Victoria Sork.

Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden
Aloes at the garden
Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden
Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden
Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden
TypePublic
LocationLos Angeles, California, United States
Nearest cityLos Angeles
Coordinates34°03′57″N 118°26′28″W
Area7 acres (2.8 ha)
Created1906 (1906) by Mildred Esther Mathias Hassler
StatusOpen year round
WebsiteThe Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden

History

UCLA's botanical garden was started as an academic laboratory shortly after the Westwood, Los Angeles campus opened in 1929, on seven acres preserved for that purpose near the arroyo on the east side of the campus. It was funded in part by the California State Relief Administration, created by newly elected Governor Frank Merriam in 1933 to provide jobs through municipal work projects.[1] The garden's first manager, George C. Groenewegen, started with horticultural donations from the United States Department of Agriculture and the Huntington Botanical Gardens, among others. By 1947 the garden hosted approximately 1,500 different species and varieties of plants.[2] In the 1960s, garden director Mildred E. Mathias, who oversaw the garden from 1956–74, helped to develop it into the "university garden" and opened it for public tours.[3] "The nest," a small amphitheater designed and built by the garden's staff and volunteers out of Northern Californian incense cedar and boulders shipped from Duarte, California, was opened in 1996.[4]

Collections

Because the garden is frost-free it can accommodate tropical and sub-tropical plants, including special collections of ferns, palms, eucalyptus and figs. The eucalyptus and figs were brought to the garden during its early years, before they became widespread in the Los Angeles region.[5] Plants are arranged by geographic, taxonomic or cultural needs to demonstrate to students and visitors how specimens are related to one another. They are also organized by themes, including desert plants, aquatic plants, Mediterranean-climate shrubs, and native Hawaiian plants, among others.[6]

See also
  • List of botanical gardens in the United States
  • California native plants

References
  1. Marina Dundjerski, UCLA: The First Century (Los Angeles: Third Millennium Publishing, Ltd./UCLA History Project/UCLA Alumni Association, 2011), p. 61.
  2. Marina Dundjerski, UCLA: The First Century (Los Angeles: Third Millennium Publishing, Ltd./UCLA History Project/UCLA Alumni Association, 2011), p. 280.
  3. Marina Dundjerski, UCLA: The First Century (Los Angeles: Third Millennium Publishing, Ltd./UCLA History Project/UCLA Alumni Association, 2011), p. 281.
  4. Jennifer Louie, "'Nest brings new life to garden," The Daily Bruin (May 24, 1996)http://dailybruin.com/1996/05/23/nest-breathes-new-life-into-ga/
  5. Kathleen McCormack, "The Garden Lover's Guide to the West," Princeton: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000, p. 75
  6. Kathleen McCormack, "The Garden Lover's Guide to the West," Princeton: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000, p. 75
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