Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
Encyclopedia
The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens (7 acres; 2.8 hectares) are extensive botanical gardens dedicated to research and collections of epiphyte
s, especially orchids and bromeliads, and their canopy ecosystems. They are located on the grounds of the former home of Marie and William Selby (of the Texaco
Oil Company) at 811 South Palm Avenue, in the heart of Sarasota, Florida
, USA
, and open to the public during business hours every day but Christmas.
in 1200 genera
from 214 plant families, including 6,000 live orchids. More than 150 expeditions to the tropics and subtropics have contributed to these collections.
For the casual visitor, the Gardens maintain over 20 habitats, with banyan
s, bamboo
, live oak
s, palm
s, mangrove
s, succulents, wildflower
s, cycad
s, bromeliads, and a koi
pond, on a site bordering Sarasota Bay
and the Hudson Bayou neighborhood of Sarasota.
Epiphyte
An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...
s, especially orchids and bromeliads, and their canopy ecosystems. They are located on the grounds of the former home of Marie and William Selby (of the Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
Oil Company) at 811 South Palm Avenue, in the heart of Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota is a city located in Sarasota County on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Florida. It is south of the Tampa Bay Area and north of Fort Myers...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and open to the public during business hours every day but Christmas.
Flora
The Gardens reportedly maintain the most diverse collection of bromeliads in the world, and feature over 20,000 plants from some 6000 speciesSpecies
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
in 1200 genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
from 214 plant families, including 6,000 live orchids. More than 150 expeditions to the tropics and subtropics have contributed to these collections.
For the casual visitor, the Gardens maintain over 20 habitats, with banyan
Banyan
A banyan is a fig that starts its life as an epiphyte when its seeds germinate in the cracks and crevices on a host tree...
s, bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
, live oak
Live oak
Live oak , also known as the southern live oak, is a normally evergreen oak tree native to the southeastern United States...
s, palm
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
s, mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
s, succulents, wildflower
Wildflower
A wildflower is a flower that grows wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. Yet "wildflower" meadows of a few mixed species are sold in seed packets. The term "wildflower" has been made vague by commercial seedsmen who are interested in selling more flowers or seeds more...
s, cycad
Cycad
Cycads are seed plants typically characterized by a stout and woody trunk with a crown of large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves. They usually have pinnate leaves. The individual plants are either all male or all female . Cycads vary in size from having a trunk that is only a few centimeters...
s, bromeliads, and a koi
Koi
or more specifically , are ornamental varieties of domesticated common carp that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens....
pond, on a site bordering Sarasota Bay
Sarasota Bay
Sarasota Bay is an estuary located off the west coast of Florida in the United States.The bay and its surrounding area appeared on the earliest maps of the area, being named Zarazote on one dating from the early 18th century...
and the Hudson Bayou neighborhood of Sarasota.
Divisions
Major divisions of the Gardens are as follows:- The Mulford B. FosterMulford B. FosterMulford Bateman Foster was a man known by many as the "Father of the Bromeliad" as he was instrumental in the discovery and introduction of many new species of Bromeliad to the United States. He also devoted his life to hybridizing and contributed widely to the knowledge of the plant species...
Bromeliad Identification Center was established in 1979 in honor of Mulford Foster, one of the leading bromeliad collectors to provide information on the horticultural and botanical aspects of the Bromeliaceae. It maintains taxonomic files for over 2800 species, genera, and subfamilies, and houses more than 2000 photographic slides for use by individuals, institutions and societies. It is supported by local and international bromeliad societies.
- GreenhouseGreenhouseA greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
s contain over 10,500 accessions in more than 600 genera representing 92 plant families, including 4900 orchids, 3600 bromeliads, 660 aroids, 240 fernFernA fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
s, 140 gesneriads, and 1300 other plants.
- Gardens contain approximately 2300 recorded tropical and subtropical plantings, representing some 1200 species, 620 genera, and 165 plant families. A significant portion are well-documented, vouchered species collected from native habitats.
- The Herbarium contains more than 100,000 specialized collections of tropical flora, largely neotropical, with an emphasis on epiphyteEpiphyteAn epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...
s. EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
flora and epiphytic flora of the AndesAndesThe Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
are well represented. Current collections of families, with number of types for each, is: OrchidaceaeOrchidaceaeThe Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots in the order Asparagales. Along with the Asteraceae, it is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species,...
(1200), BromeliaceaeBromeliaceaeBromeliaceae is a family of monocot flowering plants of around 3,170 species native mainly to the tropical Americas, with a few species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, Pitcairnia feliciana...
(109), GesneriaceaeGesneriaceaeGesneriaceae is a family of flowering plants consisting of ca. 150 genera and ca. 3,200 species in the Old World and New World tropics and subtropics, with a very small number extending to temperate areas. Many species have colorful and showy flowers and are cultivated as ornamental plants.Most...
(105), AraceaeAraceaeAraceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe or leaf-like bract. Also known as the Arum family, members are often colloquially...
(62), MarantaceaeMarantaceaeThe Marantaceae or arrowroot family is a family of flowering plants known for its large starchy rhizomes. It is sometimes called the prayer-plant family...
(16), Heliconiaceae (14), and miscellany (61).
- The Orchid Identification Center was established in 1975 to study and curate wild-collected and conservatory grown orchids, and to serve as a center for their identification. It has amassed a collection of more than 20,000 taxonomic reference files, a collection of photographs, and 24,000 spirit preserved specimens, with particular strengths in collections from MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Central AmericaCentral AmericaCentral America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, Andean South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, and VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
.
- The Christy Payne House serves as the Garden's gallery for changing exhibits of botanical art and photography. It is listed on the U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, to which it was added on September 25, 1998.
- The Research Library houses approximately 7000 volumes, dealing primarily with tropical plants, and especially epiphytes. It includes a rare book collection dating to the late 18th century, 14,000 issues of scientific journals, 2500 microfiche of early botanical references and herbaria, a photographic slide collection, and other related holdings.
- The Spirit Collection contains nearly 26,000 vials of flowers in preservative fluids, making it the second largest such collection in the world after the Royal Botanic Gardens, KewRoyal Botanic Gardens, KewThe Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...
. The collection includes 24,000 vials of the orchid family (OrchidaceaeOrchidaceaeThe Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots in the order Asparagales. Along with the Asteraceae, it is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species,...
); 2000 vials of gesneriads (GesneriaceaeGesneriaceaeGesneriaceae is a family of flowering plants consisting of ca. 150 genera and ca. 3,200 species in the Old World and New World tropics and subtropics, with a very small number extending to temperate areas. Many species have colorful and showy flowers and are cultivated as ornamental plants.Most...
); and 300 vials of bromeliads (BromeliaceaeBromeliaceaeBromeliaceae is a family of monocot flowering plants of around 3,170 species native mainly to the tropical Americas, with a few species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, Pitcairnia feliciana...
).