Cool weather in March and April has apparently set back the time for spring blooming at MEMBG, especially among the subtropical species that require heat to form flower buds. Only in mid-April did high temperatures finally arrive in Westwood and the Los Angeles area. Consequently, there should be excellent flower viewing throughout May. May is the prime month for viewing the spires of white flowers on our fully mature specimen of California buckeye, Aesculus californica, located directly opposite The Nest.
The unexpected cold temperatures of late March and April damaged young, emerging leaves of our subtropical shrubs and trees. On a brighter note, however, the new collection of Hawaiian endemics appears to have emerged from its first California winter outdoors with virtually no casualties. It's true that our bog is leaky and needs to be resealed one more time--but we have to expect some bad along with the good. We are particularly pleased at the successes of three federally listed endangered species, Munroidendron racemosum (family Araliaceae), Caesalpinia kavaiensis (family Caesalpiniaceae), and Gardenia brighamii (family Rubiaceae). During May, visitors will be able to see the gorgeous pendent magenta inflorescences of Charpentiera (family Amaranthaceae), and the flowers should enable us to identify with confidence our holdings with confidence to the correct species. Our Hawaiian specimen of Pipturus albidus (family Urticaceae) has become a handsome plant, soon to reach small-tree status. And from the western fence line we have a magnificent Hawaiian groundcover, a nearly prostrate form of Sida fallax (family Malvaceae), that needs to be introduced here into the horticultural trade. The Hawaiian collection is becoming one of our gems!
I also want to express my gratitude to the small but growing number of contributors to the newsletter. From time to time--if you give us encouragement to do so--we will reprint articles from other publications, as well, to help our readers to learn about UCLA accomplishments and interests, such as Dr. Jane Shen-Miller's research on the sacred lotus. Gradually, with the help of UCLA historians, we also hope to reconstruct the story of our botanical garden in Westwood.