Week 3 - My Experience at the Botanical Gardens!

As a third-year undergraduate student at UCLA, I regret not visiting the Botanical Gardens earlier. This week was the first time I visited the garden and from Cole Oost's introduction about the garden to Patricia Cavidad's ritual, it truly was a unique experience. We began by learning more about the garden itself through Cole Oost and I did not realize how diverse the garden was. There are many different types of plant species ranging from California Native Plants and Conifers to Cycads and Ferns ("Garden Collections"). One very interesting fact that I learned during our visit is that the garden houses one of the tallest trees in Southern California, the Eucalyptus. The Eucalyptus contains white bark, is native to Australia and stands at roughly 200 feet tall! Since the tree is extremely tall, the garden staff does not simply use a tape measure/large ruler to find out how tall the tree is (imagine). Instead, they determine how far they are standing from the tree/what angle the tree is resting at to create a triangle and utilize the Pythagorean theorem to calculate/estimate how tall the tree is. Pictured below is the Eucalyptus as well as Cole during his presentation in which a butterfly landed on his head.

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Throughout the presentation, Cole mentioned the California Native Plants and I wanted to learn more about them! "California has many species that occur nowhere else. A range of habitats exist here, from forested mountains to dry deserts" ("California Native Plants"). California experiences a "Mediterranean climate" which is characterized by dry summers and wet winters. This type of climate allows it to house many different types plants. Depending on the season, many plants may die or become dormant while others thrive and grow, which is a result of California's "Mediterranean climate." As I read more about the California Native Plants, I learned that the garden houses plants from California Deserts, Northwest Baja California as well as the Channel Islands and Coast of Southern California ("California Native Plants"). One interesting fact that I learned while I was researching more about plants native to California is that there are over 6,500 species in the state that cannot be found anywhere else in the world! ("Native Plants"). This is astonishing simply because we are able to see many species of plants that others around the world dream of seeing. Pictured below is Ceanothus arboreus and Eschscholzia californica (California poppy), which are both California Native Plants with the latter being our state wildflower. As we walked around the garden, I was also able to see the stream, which is home to turtles as well as Koi fish. Cole mentioned that the turtles and Koi fish are invasive and the garden does not put them there. Instead, individuals (in the past) have simply dropped the turtles and fish off and to this day, the garden rarely feeds them. When looking at the UCLA botanical website, I was surprised to learn that the stream was not man-made, it was formed by an arroyo. An arroyo usually forms because of flash-flooding which goes through the dry ground and creates the formation we now see as the stream ("Arroyo"). 

Ceanothus arboreus - Catalina ceanothusIMG_3347.jpegEschscholzia californica - California poppy

Source (for image on right and left): https://www.botgard.ucla.edu/gardencollections/california-natives/

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Meeting Patricia Cavidad felt very meaningful. She presented on the frequency of vibrations as it relates to climate change. Her story and culture was one that I was not very familiar with, and I felt very honored to have the opportunity to learn about it. First, I really appreciated how she asked the land for permission on her project in order to respect it. Also, she passed around a device called the Quipu. This is an ancient Inca device that holds valuable information. For example, people would keep track of their ideas and memories, they could also keep track of time and even record their accounting and military data! According to Gina CroninGina, the Inca did not have a written language so the Quipu allowed them to record what could have been written. I think it is fascinating how intricate this system was. Even without technology, or written communication, the Incas were able to do just as much as we do now. Quipu means "knot" (Gina CroninGina) which makes sense because each knot has a different meaning and that it how they make the system work. Each type of knot represents a different numerical value. For example, Cavidad knotted the number four for us which I think was really interesting. The Quipus is a type of communication in the Inca community which is extremely fascinating. Pictured below is Patricia Cavidad as she explained what a Quipu was as well as its cultural significance. 

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Works Cited: 

“Arroyo.” World Landforms, http://worldlandforms.com/landforms/arroyo/.

 
“California Native Plants.” Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, https://www.botgard.ucla.edu/gardencollections/california-natives/.
 
“Garden Collections.” Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, https://www.botgard.ucla.edu/gardencollections/.
 
Gina CroninGina loves the hidden turquoise rivers of the Andes. “Quipu: The Ancient Computer of the Inca Civilization.” Peru For Less, 8 June 2021, https://www.peruforless.com/blog/quipu/.
 

“Native Plants.” CDFW, https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Plants#:~:text=California%20hosts%20approximately%206%2C500%20species,nowhere%20else%20in%20the%20world.