Abstract
THE attempts to raise tropical plants under the extremely artificial conditions imposed by a temperate climate limits greatly the scope and usefulness of botanic gardens in the latitude of North America and Europe. The suggestion, therefore, which has been put forward, to found a tropical botanic garden in the United States, is warmly welcomed; for this will, in a way, bring the tropics within the reach of American botanists and plant breeders (“An Argument for a Botanical Garden in South Florida, to be called the Fairchild Botanical Garden”, by Marjory S. Douglas. Kells Press, Coral Gables, Florida). The only possible site appears to be that suggested, which is in a frost-free area in the extreme south of Florida. This is close to Chapman Field, where the United States Department of Agriculture has its Plant Introduction Garden, with which the name of David Fairchild is so closely associated. Here are grown tropical plant introductions for the needs of the Department of Agriculture. It serves a very useful purpose in this respect, but it differs from a botanic garden in that it does not offer a permanent home to tropical trees and plants. It is strictly utilitarian and is not laid out with that aesthetic taste which one associates with botanic gardens and which has so large an educational effect on the visiting public.
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A Suggested Botanic Garden in South Florida. Nature 139, 956 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/139956a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/139956a0