The Missouri Botanical Garden is a
botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in
St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and
philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its
herbarium, with more than 6.6 million specimens, is the second largest in North America, behind that of the
New York Botanical Garden. The ''
Index Herbariorum'' code assigned to the herbarium is MO and it is used when citing housed specimens.
History
The land that is currently the Missouri Botanical Garden was previously the land of businessman Henry Shaw.
Founded in 1859, the Missouri Botanical Garden is one of the oldest botanical institutions in the United States and a
National Historic Landmark. It is also listed in the
National Register of Historic Places.
In 1983, the botanical garden was added as the fourth subdistrict of the
Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District.
The garden is a center for botanical research and science education of international repute, as well as an oasis in the city of St. Louis, with of horticultural display. It includes a
Japanese strolling garden named
Seiwa-en
Seiwa-en is a Japanese strolling garden located in the Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, Missouri, in the Midwestern United States. At 5 ha (14 acres), it is the largest such garden in North America. It features a large lake, modest traditiona ...
; the Climatron
geodesic dome conservatory; a children's garden, including a pioneer village; a playground; a fountain area and a water locking system, somewhat similar to the locking system at the
Panama Canal; an Osage camp; and Henry Shaw's original 1850 estate home. It is adjacent to
Tower Grove Park, another of Shaw's legacies.
For part of 2006, the Missouri Botanical Garden featured "Glass in the Garden", with glass sculptures by
Dale Chihuly placed throughout the garden. Four pieces were purchased to remain at the gardens. In 2008 sculptures of the French artist
Niki de Saint Phalle were placed throughout the garden. In 2009, the 150th anniversary of the garden was celebrated, including a floral clock display.
After 40 years of service to the garden, Dr.
Peter Raven
Peter Hamilton Raven (born June 13, 1936) is an American botanist and environmentalist, notable as the longtime director, now President Emeritus, of the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Early life
On June 13, 1936, Raven was born in Shanghai, China ...
retired from his presidential post on September 1, 2010. Dr.
Peter Wyse Jackson replaced him as President.
Leaders of the garden
*
Henry Shaw (founder) until his death in 1889
*
William Trelease, director, 1889 to 1912
*
George Thomas Moore, director, 1912 to 1953
*
Edgar Anderson, director, 1954 to 1957
*
Frits Warmolt Went, director, 1958 to 1963
David Gates director, 1965 to 1971
*
Peter H. Raven, director, 1971 to 2006; president and director, 2006 to 2010
*
Peter Wyse Jackson, president, appointed 2010
Cultural festivals
The garden is a place for many annual cultural festivals, such as the Japanese Festival and the Chinese Culture Days by the St. Louis Chinese Culture Days Committee. During this time, there are showcases of the culture's botanics as well as cultural arts, crafts, music and food. The Japanese Festival features
sumo wrestling,
taiko drumming,
koma-mawashi top spinning, and
kimono fashion shows. The garden is known for its
bonsai growing, which can be seen all year round but is highlighted during the multiple Asian festivals.
Gardens
Major garden features include:
* Tower Grove House (1849) and Herb Garden – Shaw's Victorian country house, designed by prominent local architect
George I. Barnett in the
Italianate style
* ''Victory of Science over Ignorance'' – marble statue by
Carlo Nicoli, a copy of the original (1859) by
Vincenzo Consani
Vincenzo Consani (1818-1888) was a prominent Italian sculptor from the Canova school. Consani's marble masterpiece statue ''Vittoria'' (1859) is in the Pitti Palace in Florence.
Early life
Consani was born in Lucca, Italy on April 24, 1818. ...
in the
Pitti Palace,
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
* Linnean House (1882) – reputedly the oldest continually operated greenhouse west of the
Mississippi River; originally Shaw's
orangery, in the late 1930s converted to house mostly
camellias
* Gladney Rose Garden (1915) – circular rose garden with arbors
*
Climatron (1960) and Reflecting Pools – world's first
geodesic dome greenhouse, designed by architect and engineer Thomas C. Howard of Synergetics, Inc; lowland rain forest with approximately 1500 plants
* English Woodland Garden (1976) –
aconite,
azaleas,
bluebells,
dogwood
''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or ...
s,
hosta,
trillium, and others beneath the tree canopy
*
Seiwa-en
Seiwa-en is a Japanese strolling garden located in the Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, Missouri, in the Midwestern United States. At 5 ha (14 acres), it is the largest such garden in North America. It features a large lake, modest traditiona ...
Japanese Garden (1977) – ''chisen kaiyu-shiki'' (wet strolling garden) with lawns and path set around a central lake, designed by
Koichi Kawana Koichi Kawana ( Japanese: 川名孝一, born March 16, 1930 in Hokkaido – September 13, 1990) was a post-war Japanese American garden designer, landscape architect and teacher. He designed gardens in San Diego, Los Angeles, Denver, Colorado, Chica ...
; the largest
Japanese Garden in North America
* Grigg Nanjing Friendship Chinese Garden (1995) – designed by architect Yong Pan; features (gifts from sister city
Nanjing) a
moon gate,
lotus gate, pavilion, and
Chinese scholar's rocks from
Lake Tai
Taihu (), also known as Lake Tai or Lake Taihu, is a lake in the Yangtze Delta and one of the largest freshwater lakes in China. The lake is in Jiangsu province and a significant part of its southern shore forms its border with Zhejiang. ...
* Blanke Boxwood Garden (1996) – walled ''
parterre'' with a fine
boxwood collection
* Strassenfest German Garden (2000) – flora native to Germany and Central Europe and a bust of botanist and Henry Shaw's scientific advisor
George Engelmann (sculpted by
Paul Granlund
Paul T. Granlund (October 6, 1925, Minneapolis, Minnesota – September 15, 2003, Mankato, Minnesota) was an American sculptor. His creative career spanned more than 50 years and more than 650 different works. Most of his work is figurative ...
)
*
Biblical garden Biblical gardens are cultivated collections of plants that are named in the Bible. They are a type of theme garden that botanical gardens, public parks, and private gardeners maintain. They are grown in many parts of the world, with many examples ...
featuring
date palm,
pomegranate,
fig
The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...
and
olive trees,
caper,
mint
MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAE ...
,
citron and other
plants mentioned in the
Bible
*
Ottoman garden with water features and xeriscape
Popular culture
Douglas Trumbull, the director of the 1972
science fiction classic film ''
Silent Running'', stated that the geodesic domes on the spaceship ''Valley Forge'' were based on the Missouri Botanical Garden's Climatron dome.
File:Missouri Botanical Garden - 2017-05-08.jpg, A yatsu-hashi bridge in the garden.
Image:Missouribonsaigarden.jpg, Bonsai
Image:Missouri Botanical Garden - Plan, drawn 1974-1977.jpg, Site plan, as of 1974–1977
Image:Henry Shaw Mausoleum.jpg, Henry Shaw's mausoleum is located in the gardens.
File:Botanical Garden, Saint Louis.jpg, Seiwa-en
Seiwa-en is a Japanese strolling garden located in the Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, Missouri, in the Midwestern United States. At 5 ha (14 acres), it is the largest such garden in North America. It features a large lake, modest traditiona ...
File:Fountain at Missouri Botanical Garden.jpg, A fountain
File:Children's area, Missouri Botanical Garden.jpg, Part of the children's area
File:Statue of George Washington Carver at Missouri Botanical Garden.jpg, A statue of George Washington Carver
File:Children's water play area, Missouri Botanical Garden.jpg, Part of the children's water play area
Butterfly House
Missouri Botanical Garden also operates the
Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in
Chesterfield. The Butterfly House includes an indoor butterfly conservatory as well as an outdoor butterfly garden.
EarthWays Center
The EarthWays Center is a group at the Missouri Botanical Garden that provides resources on and educates the public about green practices, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and other sustainability matters.
Shaw Nature Reserve
The Shaw Nature Reserve was started by the Missouri Botanical Garden in 1925 as a place to store plants away from the pollution of the city. The air in St. Louis later cleared up, and the reserve has continued to be open to the public for enjoyment, research, and education ever since. The reserve is located in
Gray Summit, Missouri
Gray Summit is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Franklin County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,701 at the 2010 census. Also called "Gray's Summit", it was founded by Daniel Gray of New York, who bui ...
, away from the city.
The Plant List
The Plant List is an
Internet encyclopedia project to compile a comprehensive list of
botanical nomenclature, created by the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the Missouri Botanical Garden. The Plant List has 1,040,426 scientific plant names of species rank, of which 298,900 are accepted species names. In addition, the list has 620 plant families and 16,167 plant genera.
Living Earth Collaborative
In September 2017 the Missouri Botanical Garden teamed up with the
St. Louis Zoo
The Saint Louis Zoo, officially known as the Saint Louis Zoological Park, is a zoo in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri. It is recognized as a leading zoo in animal management, research, conservation, and education. The zoo is accredited by the ...
and
Washington University in St. Louis in a conservation effort known as the Living Earth Collaborative. The collaborative, run by
Washington University scientist
Jonathan Losos
Jonathan B. Losos (born December 7, 1961, in St. Louis County, Missouri) is an American evolutionary biologist and Herpetologist.
Life
Losos studied biology at Harvard University, from which he received a Bachelor's degree in 1984. Later on, in 1 ...
, seeks to promote further understanding of the ways humans can help to preserve the varied natural environments that allow plants, animals and microbes to survive and thrive.
Sponsorship
Monsanto had donated $10 million to the Missouri Botanical Garden since the 1970s, which named its 1998 plant science facility the "Monsanto Center". The center has since been renamed to the "Bayer Center" following
Monsanto's acquisition by Bayer.
[No official announcements or press, but the difference can be seen on the Garden's website before and after Monsanto acquisition by Bayer (difference in name in caption for second photo); before: https://web.archive.org/web/20130822224927/https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/plant-science/plant-science/resources/herbarium.aspx , after: https://web.archive.org/web/20210604074747/https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/plant-science/plant-science/resources/herbarium.aspx .]
Publications
* ''
Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden''
*
Novon: A Journal for Botanical Nomenclature'
See also
*
List of botanical gardens and arboretums in the United States
*
Peter F. Stevens, a biologist working in the Missouri Botanical Garden
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in Missouri
*
References
External links
*
*
Climatron history and architectureThe Japanese GardenTower Grove ParkBotanicus, Digital library
{{authority control
Botanical gardens in Missouri
Culture of St. Louis
1859 establishments in Missouri
National Historic Landmarks in Missouri
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri
Buildings and structures in St. Louis
Botanical Garden
Geography of St. Louis
Botanical research institutes
National Register of Historic Places in St. Louis
Chinese gardens
Woodland gardens