Desert Garden

Golden Barrel Cacti (Echinocactus grusonii) have been part of the Desert Garden since  Hertrich traveled to Mexico on a mission to collect plants in the early 20th century. Like other cacti, Golden Barrels absorb water during seasonal rains, store it in their tissues, and use it up gradually over the long dry season. Both their distinctive globular form and their accordion-like ribs are water storage adaptations. Although common in cultivation, these plants are endangered in the wild.

Puyas are part of the Bromeliad family, which includes tillandsias (“air plants”), many epiphytic plants that are popular in indoor landscaping, and, most well-known, the pineapple. This South American group ranges throughout the Andes, and Chilean species do especially well in Southern California’s climate. Two rare species from Chile grow in the garden: Puya alpestris and P. chilensis. In April and early May, they burst into bloom with stunning flowers, the former blue-green and the latter chartreuse.

Agaves are commonly referred to as “century plants” because they can take many decades to mature, at which point they produce massive asparagus-like flower stalks that reveal their family connection to… asparagus. For some species this is their lifetime finale because the growing point terminates as an inflorescence. The next generation comes from the many seeds produced. Some species offset from their base or produce plantlets from the flower stalks. Agave is one of The Huntington’s most important research collections. Notable species include Agave tequilana and A. sisalana, the sources of tequila and sisal fiber, respectively. One of the largest agaves in the collection is an Agave mapisaga ‘Lisa.’

The Huntington maintains one of the largest Aloe collections outside Africa. About 200 of the world’s species of Aloe reside in the upper garden. Most are from southern Africa. People have known of the medicinal properties of Aloe vera since ancient times, but this is only one of roughly 600 Aloe species which range from tree-like giants to miniatures suitable for growing in pots.Their magnificent floral displays, especially in winter, attract nectar-seeking birds that serve as pollinators—hummingbirds in Western regions of the world and sunbirds in Africa and Arabia, where these plants originate.

The genus Echeveria was named for the 19th-century Mexican botanical illustrator and naturalist Atanasio Echeverría y Godoy. Prized for their lovely forms and rich colors, these plants have been hybridized with other species and genera to produce many beautiful landscape varieties. Echeverias occur naturally from the southern United States to South America, and The Huntington’s second director of the gardens, Myron Kimnach, was particularly interested in researching them.

Not all cacti live in deserts. Epiphytic cacti use water-storing adaptations in tropical regions. In these places, their succulent adaptations enable them to thrive in dry microclimates in the forest canopy or on rocky hillsides. Epiphyllum and other pendant cacti were also of special interest to Kimnach. Although they appear quite different from their terrestrial kin, these are true cacti with areoles (small cushion-like structures from which spines and flowers are produced) and other anatomical features that distinguish this plant family.

Welwitschia mirabilis is not a succulent, because it doesn’t store significant water in its tissues, but its unusual arid habitat adaptations make it appealing for many of the same reasons that people are drawn to succulents. Originating in the coastal regions of Namibia and Angola, these cone-bearing plants are more closely related to cycads and pines. They produce just two leaves that grow continuously— potentially for centuries—from the woody caudex at their base.