Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (279 acres) is a public botanical garden on La Crosse Avenue near the Mopac Expressway, 10 miles SW of downtown Austin, Texas and just inside the edge of the distinctive Texas hill country. It is devoted entirely to native plants, with extensive plantings native to central Texas and research on native-plant landscaping in general.
The center also hosts changing exhibits of visual art and photography , including outdoor sculptures in the garden such as the dragonfly. The center features walking trails, formal and research plantings, educational exhibits, traditional local architecture, and sale of native plants.
Former first lady Lady Bird Johnson and actress Helen Hayes founded the National
Wildflower Research Center in 1982 to protect and preserve North America's
native plants and natural landscapes. Officially renamed Lady Bird Johnson
Wildflower Center in 1998, the mission of the center has been to increase the
sustainable use and conservation of native wildflowers, plants and landscapes.
The inscription on Lady Bird Johnson's Presidential Medal of Freedom award ends
with "Her leadership transformed the American landscape and preserved its
natural beauty as a national treasure."
On June 20, 2006, the University of Texas System Board of Regents announced a
plan to incorporate the Wildflower Center into The University of Texas at
Austin.
Test fro Wikipedia
Osage-orange
Maclura pomifera, commonly called Osage-orange, hedge-apple, Horse-apple, Bois d'arc, Bodark, or Bodock is a small deciduous tree or large shrub, typically growing to 8–15 metres (26–49 ft) tall. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers on different plants. The fruit, a multiple fruit, is roughly spherical, but bumpy, and 7–15 cm in diameter. It is filled with a sticky white latex sap. In fall, its color turns a bright yellow-green.
