Gardening : ‘Zoo Walk’ Explores Flora, Fauna
Plant lovers: Have you been to the Los Angeles Zoo lately?
The next time you want a new garden experience, consider a trip to Griffith Park. Aside from the new Adventure Island section for children, apart from the gorgeous flamingos and monkeys, the zoo is home to a variety of unusual plants--some species that aren’t seen anywhere else in Southern California.
“Ten years ago, we were told to tell visitors that our plant collection was as valuable as our animal collection,” says Shirley Kline, a docent at the zoo and a member of its speakers bureau. Although recent acquisitions of rare fauna have pushed that equation out of kilter, the flora can still hold its own.
In a talk on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the South Coast Botanic Gardens, Kline will lead a figurative walk through the zoo and introduce everything from marigolds to marmosets.
“The zoo is laid out in five continental areas,” Kline says. “The areas are planted and populated with animals and plants native to that region.”
Kline’s personal favorites are the elephant foot trees--the beaucarnea--which are indigenous to Baja California. The zoo has four of the largest specimens in the United States. “They were planted in 1916 at an apartment house on Sunset Boulevard,” Kline says. “When the owner died, he willed them to the zoo, and they were transplanted in the mid-’70s.”
A mature elephant foot tree is about nine feet in diameter at its base.
“It’s a weird tree with roots like big onions sitting on the soil, then the trunk comes up like an ice cream cone,” Kline says. “The leaves are straggly things that hang down like fireworks. You wonder if it’s even real.”
The trees do well in Southern California, providing one can be found to plant (ask a nursery for sources). The elephant foot needs sun, well-drained soil and infrequent watering; established plants can survive temperatures as low as 18 degrees Fahrenheit.
Kline also likes to spotlight the zoo’s cactus garden; she’s especially fond of the euphorbia, which “look like cactus but aren’t,” she says. “All members of the cactus group were originally natives of the Western Hemisphere.”
When preparing for its new Australian koalas a few years back, animal keepers shipped loads of branches from the zoo’s 16 species of eucalyptus trees to make sure the animals liked what was available.
In the African area are papyrus trees, which the Egyptians used to make paper. Some Southland gardeners have had success with these trees, which can grow either in soil or shallow water.
The albizia--silk tree--is a beautiful specimen in the Eurasia area. Native in an area stretching from Iran to Japan, the tree is drought tolerant and well suited to the Southland’s dry climate; it will also grow well in the sandy soil at the beach. Pink, white or yellow fluffy flowers perch like pin cushions on branches that look like ferns during the summer blooming season.
“The leaves are light-sensitive and fold up at night,” Kline says.
Crape myrtles in a variety of colors are planted throughout the zoo. These old-fashioned shrub trees deserve a spot in most local gardens--they bloom for months and are light and airy enough to allow plantings around their base.
Kline’s talk will also offer insight into the animal life at the zoo.
“I’m going to talk about the two-headed gopher snake, which is the favorite of fifth-grade boys,” Kline says.
She will also discuss the zoo’s role in re-naturalizing the endangered golden lion tamarins into Brazil. A family of the tiny red monkeys was bred in Los Angeles and were then moved to the National Zoo in Washington; they’ll be reintroduced into their native area later this month.
The South Coast Botanic Garden, where Kline will speak, is at 26300 Crenshaw Blvd. on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Admission to the garden is $3 for adults, $1.50 for seniors 62 and older, $1.50 for students with ID, 75 cents for children ages 5 to 12, and free for children 4 and younger.
