Desert Plants - A Curator's Introduction to the Huntington
Desert Garden Written by: Gary Lyons Format: 100 pages, 8 1/2 x
10 1/2 inches, 92 color illustrations Release Date: 2007-07-16
About this Book The Huntington is famous for its spectacular
desert garden, one of the largest such collections of cacti and
other succulents in the world. Nearly 100 years old, the twelve-
acre garden today showcases more than 3,000 species of desert
plants. Visitors to the garden marvel at its many wonders,
including the massive Cereus xanthocarpus cactus weighing some
fifteen tons; the vivid blue and green Puya, a rare type of
bromeliad; the Lithops, or “living stone,” whose camouflaged
leaves mimic the shape and color of rocks; and the dazzling red,
orange, and yellow torch-like blooms of the aloe. In this
beautifully illustrated volume, Lyons draws on his decades of
experience with desert plants to present the rare and unusual
specimens in the Huntington’s desert garden. He tells of the
garden’s early development, describe