Conservatory of Flowers

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The domed Conservatory of Flowers is one of the world's largest. It is built of traditional wood sash and glass pane construction.

The Conservatory of Flowers is a large botanical greenhouse in the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. Many exotic flowers from around the world are grown there for study and display.

1 History
2 Today
3 Statistics
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

The conservatory describes itself as is the oldest existing public conservatory in the Western Hemisphere. In 1876 the wealthiest man in California, James Lick died. He had purchased a 12,000 square foot (1100 m²) Victorian wood and glass greenhouse (Conservatory) for use on his Santa Clara property. At his death the Conservatory was still in crates. In 1877, a syndicate of San Francisco businessmen purchased the Conservatory from Lick's estate and donated it to the San Francisco Park Commission. Over the next two years, the Conservatory was erected in Golden Gate Park by the famed East Coast firm Lord and Burham. It opened to the public in 1879 and began a long and eventful career.

The Aquatic Plants room with flowing water, carnivorous plants, and some giant Victoria lilies.

In 1883 the heating plant exploded setting the main dome on fire. Railroad tycoon Charles Crocker donated funds for repair and the dome was restored. In 1906, the great San Francisco earthquake destroyed much of the city, but didn't significantly harm this "glass house."

In 1933 the Conservatory was closed to the public because of "structural instability" and did not reopen until 1946 after it had been repaired, reglazed and repainted. On December 12, 1995 a monster storm with 100 mph (160 km/h) winds blew in off the Pacific from the Gulf of Alaska, severely damaging the building. The Conservatory was again closed to the public in a state of disrepair.

In 1998, the Conservatory was placed on a list of the 100 most endangered world monuments by the World Monuments Fund. Also in 1998, the National Trust for Historic Preservation "adopted" the Conservatory into it's Save America's Treasures program, launched as part of First Lady Hillary Clinton's Millenium Council projects. The publicity from these efforts eventually led to a fundraising campaign to raise the twenty-five million dollars needed to properly restore the Conservatory. The restoration effort lasted from 1999 until 2003. On September 20, 2003, the completely restored Conservatory was once again opened to the public.

In May of 2005, a corpse flower species Amorphophallus titanum bloomed, attracting more than 16,000 visitors. The Conservatory also welcomed it's 500,000th visitor since reopening.

[edit] Today

Today the conservatory consists of a central chamber and two L-shaped wings, housing display areas for the lowland tropics, highland tropics, aquatic plants, potted plants, and special exhibits. It contains approximately 1,700 plant species. Its collection of high-altitude orchids - more than 700 of the 1,000 known species - is described as the largest and most comprehensive public collection in the world. Representative plants from its collections include:

Lowland Tropics - including balsa, bamboo, banana, chocolate, cinnamon, coffee, taro, and vanilla, as well as Dioon spinulosum, Philodendron speciosum, Phoenix roebelinii, and Zamia lindenii.

Highland Tropics - high-altitude orchids (pleurothallids) native to mid-elevations in Central and South America, as well as bromeliads, Chusquea circinata, Dracula spp., Trichoceros parviflorus.

Aquatic Plants - Victoria amazonica, V. cruziana, etc.

Carnivorus plants-Nepenthes spp., Drosera ssp.

Potted Plants - various potted plants displayed on benches.

[edit] Statistics

The conservatory contains approximately 1700 species of plants from different countries. It has 16800 window panes. The upper dome of the conservatory weighs 14.5 tonnes.