San Diego Botanic Garden
2010.12.23
Unfortunately, I got food poisoning from something I ate, so it was a rough night. Mom and Dad let me sleep in, but in the early afternoon we decided to try to go see something. The rain had mostly stopped, so we went to the San Diego Botanic Garden, located up the coast in Encinitas, California. The plants range from desert to tropical jungle. I was moving pretty slow, but we were able to see most of it.
One of the neat things we got to see was a Cork Oak tree (Quercus suber). They are native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa. The spongy bark can be harvested without killing the tree, about once every fifteen years. The early inhabitants of the Canary Islands said the red sap of the Dragon Tree (Dracaena draco) was the blood of dragons. Among other uses, the sap was mixed in varnish by 18th century Italian violinmakers such as the Stradivari family.
On the left, the appropriately named Electric Pink Cordyline, from New Zealand.
While Mom and I were looking at one of the plants, Dad spotted what we think was a pocket gopher, stretching out of his hole to get something to nibble on.
Air Museum