Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden
Aloes at the garden
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Type	Public
Location	Los Angeles, California, United States
Nearest city	Los Angeles
Area	7 acres (2.8 ha)
Created	1906 (1906) by Mildred Esther Mathias Hassler
Status	Open year round
Website	The Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden

The Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden is a special garden with many different plants. It's about 7 acres big (that's like 5 football fields!). You can find it on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, California, USA.

This garden is named after Dr. Mildred Esther Mathias Hassler. She was a famous American botanist, which means she studied plants. She lived from 1906 to 1995. The person in charge of the garden today is Victoria Sork.

Garden History
Plant Collections
Gallery
See also

Garden History

The UCLA botanical garden started in 1929. It was first used as a place for students to study plants. It was built on 7 acres of land on the east side of the campus.

The garden got some money from the California State Relief Administration. This group was set up in 1933 by Governor Frank Merriam. Its goal was to create jobs for people during tough times.

George C. Groenewegen was the garden's first manager. He received plants from places like the United States Department of Agriculture. He also got plants from the Huntington Botanical Gardens. By 1947, the garden had about 1,500 different kinds of plants.

Dr. Mildred E. Mathias led the garden from 1956 to 1974. She helped make it a "university garden." She also opened it up for public tours. In 1996, a small outdoor classroom called "The Nest" was built. It was made by garden staff and volunteers.

Plant Collections

The garden is a great home for many plants. It never gets too cold there, so tropical plants can grow well. You can find special collections of ferns, palms, eucalyptus, and figs.

The eucalyptus and fig trees were brought to the garden a long time ago. This was before they became common in the Los Angeles area. Plants in the garden are grouped in different ways. Some are grouped by where they come from in the world. Others are grouped by their type or what they need to grow. This helps students and visitors learn how plants are related.

The garden also has special areas for different themes. These include desert plants and water plants. There are also sections for plants from Mediterranean climates. You can even see native Hawaiian plants.