
克莱蒙特本土植物专类园的历史沿革
美国加利福尼亚植物园的前身是 1927 年由 Susanna Bixby Bryant 在加州橙县圣安娜峡谷牧场划出 200 英亩土地创建的 Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden,最初是为纪念她的父亲 John William Bixby。建园早期她曾与哈佛大学树木学家 Charles Sprague Sargent、加州大学伯克利分校的本土植物学家 Willis Linn Jepson 以及南加州景观建筑师、加州大学南加大教授 Ernest Braunton 通信请教,并在 Theodore Payne 等本土植物保育先驱协助下规划植物配置。1943 年一场圣安娜大风引发的火灾席卷园区;1951 年整园迁至克莱蒙特即现今所在地并与 Claremont Colleges 建立附属关系,Claremont 研究生院的植物学项目一直以园为基地开展研究。
机构使命与 86 英亩活体收藏
园区占地 86 英亩,主体使命是保护与展示加州本土植物。园方运营维护着两万余株加州原生植物的活体收藏,部分为稀有或濒危类群;展出约一千一百七十个分类单元,包含加州植物区系的原生代表。机构由美国博物馆联盟认证为活体博物馆,按 501(c)(3) 非营利组织运营。访问方面,园区常规周二至周日早八点至晚六点开放,按季节调整闭园时间;一月一日、七月四日、感恩节、十二月四日及部分特殊活动日闭园。游客可经主干道免费停车至园内主停车场,或搭乘 Foothill Transit 188 路在五分钟步行距离内到达。
种子库、植物标本室与图书馆三大研究收藏
种子保育计划由种子保护项目经理统筹,专责加州种子库与野外采种工作;加州种子库是面向加州原生植物长期保育的最大种子库,已收存超过六千份种质,代表两千四百余个加州原生植物物种与品种,地理范围覆盖加州全境及加州植物区系在墨西哥境内的部分,尤其侧重南加州稀有类群。植物标本室编号 RSA,依托 Claremont 研究生院的系统与进化植物学方向开展形态、解剖与分子实验;图书馆与档案室则系统保存加州本土植物的历史出版物、田野笔记与影像档案,并通过加州图书馆体系的 California Revealed 项目推动数字化共享。
保育科学、本土苗圃与公众教育
保育项目由 Naomi Fraga 博士领衔,团队分现场、实验室、修复、苗圃与种子五条线推进,涵盖稀有植物生物学、繁殖生物学、猴面花系统学等研究方向,并与加州多个联邦与州立机构合作开展栖息地修复工作。园内的 Grow Native Nursery 是非营利性质的零售苗圃,常年供应适合南加州气候与土壤条件的本土植物;科普层面的学校参访与导览项目由志愿者 Garden Guides 主导,覆盖 K-12 跨学科核心标准与加州下一代科学标准。会长由 Cindy Walkenbach 担任,执行团队包括研究主任 Lucinda McDave 博士、园艺主任 Ashlee Armstrong 等多位主管。
学会认证、会员与志愿参与
机构入选美国园艺学会的互惠准入名单,园方会员可在全美超过三百家植物园享受互惠准入与活动折扣。CalBG 的运营经费来自捐款、会员费、活动收入、场地租赁与苗圃销售等多个渠道;官方捐款、致敬礼品、会员入会等渠道常年开放,志愿者团队亦通过 Oak Notes 简报与园方保持长期联络。机构早期由 Susanna Bixby Bryant 亲自领导,后由 Percy Charles Everett、John Thomas Howell、Carl Brandt Wolf 等学者承上启下,逐步建立以加州本土植物为唯一对象的科研与保育传统。

History of the Claremont Native Plant Garden
California Botanic Garden traces its origins to 1927, when Susanna Bixby Bryant set aside two hundred acres of her family’s Santa Ana Canyon Ranch in Orange County as a native plant preserve in memory of her father, John William Bixby. She corresponded with Harvard dendrologist Charles Sprague Sargent and with Willis Linn Jepson at the University of California, Berkeley, consulted Theodore Payne on California flora, and retained Ernest Braunton of USC to lay out the planting plans. A 1943 Santa Ana wind-driven fire damaged the early collection; in 1951 the institution relocated to its present Claremont site and affiliated with the Claremont Colleges, thereafter serving as the home of the Claremont Graduate University Botany Program.
Mission and the Eighty-Six-Acre Living Collection
The present garden covers eighty-six acres devoted entirely to California native flora. The living collection holds more than twenty-two thousand California native plants, with roughly eleven hundred and seventy taxa on display, including representatives from across the California Floristic Province. The institution is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Regular visiting hours run Tuesday through Sunday from eight a.m. to six p.m., with seasonal adjustments; the garden is closed on New Year’s Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving, and December 25th. Visitors may park free in the main lot on the north side of College Avenue or arrive via the Foothill Transit Route 188 bus stop a short walk away.
Seed Bank, Herbarium and Library Collections
The Seed Conservation Program manages the California Seed Bank, the largest seed bank dedicated to the long-term conservation of California native flora, holding more than six thousand accessions representing over twenty-four hundred California native plant species and cultivars. Geographic coverage spans the whole of California together with the Mexican portion of the California Floristic Province, with particular emphasis on rare Southern California taxa. The herbarium, designated by the code RSA, supports systematic and evolutionary botany in collaboration with the Claremont Graduate University program. The library and archives preserve historical publications, field notes, and photographs, and contribute materials to the California Revealed digitization initiative.
Conservation Science, Native Plant Nursery and Public Education
Conservation Programs, led by Naomi Fraga, organise field studies, laboratory research, restoration projects, production nursery work and seed banking, with research spanning rare plant biology, reproductive biology, and monkeyflower systematics. The on-site Grow Native Nursery provides retail access to plants propagated for Southern California conditions. School visits and guided programs are led by trained volunteer Garden Guides and aligned with the K-12 Common Core standards and the California Next Generation Science Standards. The board of trustees is chaired by Cindy Walkenbach; the executive team includes research director Lucinda McDade, horticulture director Ashlee Armstrong, and colleagues overseeing development and finance.
Accreditation, Membership and Community Engagement
CalBG participates in the American Horticultural Society’s reciprocal admissions network, offering members access to more than three hundred partner gardens across North America. Operating support comes from donations, memberships, events, venue rentals, and nursery sales; tribute gifts and contributions are accepted year-round, and a long-standing volunteer corps stays connected through the Oak Notes newsletter. Successive superintendents and botanists, including Percy Charles Everett, John Thomas Howell, and Carl Brandt Wolf, shaped the early collections and laid the foundation for the garden’s distinct focus on the native flora of California.








发表回复