The Joseph Reynold O'Neal Botanic Garden occupies about four acres of land located northwest of the downtown roundabout. The site used to be an agricultural station where various plants, trees, and crops were grown experimentally. After the agricultural station was moved, planning for a botanic garden began in the late 1970s. By the mid-1980s, the plantings were in place and the Botanic Garden was formally opened in 1986.
I have seven pages of pictures from my visit in November 2007.
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| The main entrance to J.R. O'Neal Botanic Garden. Click on the picture to see a bigger version; use your browser's "back" command to return here. | Sanchezia speciosa. Click on the picture to see a bigger version; use your browser's "back" command to return here. |
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| A variety of Ixora spp. Click on the picture to see a bigger version; use your browser's "back" command to return here. | Ochna Kirkii, also known as the Mickey Mouse Plant. This is because the flower has black lobe-shaped parts that look like Mickey Mouse ears, but they're missing on this flower. |
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| Pseudobombax ellipticum, also known as the Shaving Brush Tree due to its brush-shaped flowers, but this tree is not flowering. Click on the picture to see a bigger version; use your browser's "back" command to return here. | Bixa orellana, sometimes called the Lipstick Tree. The seed pulp from these flowers produces an orange-red dye called annatto (in Spanish, achiote) which is commonly used as a food coloring. Factoid: Cheez-It snack crackers, one of my favorite snacks, contain annatto. Also, when I was cruising with Marcie and David on Nine of Cups, I bought some achiote paste in Ecuador and used it to color cooked rice. I remember wondering what it was and where it came from, and now I know. |
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| A pergola covered with Thunbergia grandiflora. Click on the picture to see a bigger version; use your browser's "back" command to return here. | A different view of the pergola and some palms. Click on the picture to see a bigger version; use your browser's "back" command to return here. |
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