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Lotusland
Ganna Walska Lotusland, also known as Lotusland, is a non-profit botanical garden located in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, California, United States. The (15 ha / 37 acres) garden is the historic estate of Madame Ganna Walska. The County of Santa Barbara restricts visitation via a conditional use permit: Lotusland botanic garden is open to the public by advance reservation only, with walking tours 1½ to 2 hours long. History Ralph Kinton Stevens purchased the land in 1882; he and his wife, Caroline Lucy Tallant, named the property "Tanglewood". They established a lemon and palm nursery and eventually added other tropical plants to the collection and were among the early plantsmen of Santa Barbara. In 1916 the estate was sold to the Gavit family, from Albany, New York, who renamed it "Cuesta Linda". They added landscape elements, garden structures, and the main residence designed in 1919 by Reginald Johnson in the Mediterranean Revival style. In 1921–1927 they commissioned ...
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Ganna Walska
Ganna Walska (born Hanna Puacz on June 26, 1887 – March 2, 1984) was a Polish opera singer and garden enthusiast who created the Lotusland botanical gardens at her mansion in Montecito, California. She was married six times, four times to wealthy husbands. The lavish promotion of her lackluster opera career by her fourth husband, Harold Fowler McCormick, inspired aspects of the screenplay for '' Citizen Kane''. Biography Ganna Walska was born Hanna Puacz on 26 June 1887 in Brest, Russian Empire, to Polish parents Napoleon Puacz and Karolina Massalska. Ganna is a Ukrainian form of Hannah, and Walska "reminiscent of her favorite music, the waltz". In 1922, after her marriage to Harold F. McCormick, Ganna Walska purchased the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. She told the ''Chicago Tribune'' that she had invested her own funds, not those of her wealthy husband, and said, "I will never appear in my own theatre until I have gained recognition based solely on my merits ...
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Montecito, California
Montecito (Spanish for "Little mountain") is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California.McCormack, Don (1999). ''McCormack's Guides Santa Barbara and Ventura 2000''. Mccormacks Guides. p. 58. . Located on the Central Coast of California, Montecito sits between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean and had a population of 8,638 in 2020. Montecito is best known as a "celebrity enclave", owing to its concentration of prominent residents. History The site of present-day Montecito, along with the entire south coast of Santa Barbara County, was inhabited for over 10,000 years by the Chumash Indians. The Spanish arrived in the 18th century but left the region largely unsettled while they built the Presidio and Mission Santa Barbara farther west. In the middle of the 19th century, the area was known as a haven for bandits and highway robbers, who hid in the oak groves and canyons, preying on traffic on the coastal route between the ...
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Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Santa Barbara's climate is often described as Mediterranean climate, Mediterranean, and the city has been dubbed "The American Riviera". According to the 2020 United States census, U.S. Census, the city's population was 88,665. In addition to being a popular tourist and resort destination, the city has a diverse economy that includes a large service sector, education, technology, health care, finance, agriculture, manufacturing, and local government. In 2004, the service sector accounted for 35% of local employment. Education in particular is well represented, with four institutions of higher learning nearby: the University of Calif ...
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Reginald Davis Johnson
Reginald Davis Johnson (1882 - 1952) was an American architect. His practice, based in Pasadena, California, focused on the Los Angeles area and southern California in general, with a mixture of residential and commercial work. Johnson's later work was influenced by his progressive ideas on housing policy. Johnson was born in New York state on July 19, 1882, the son of Joseph Horsfall Johnson, who would become the first Episcopal bishop of Los Angeles from 1896 to 1928. Johnson studied architecture in Paris and then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating in 1910 and returned to Pasadena. His father would consecrate St. Paul's Cathedral in Los Angeles in 1924, designed by Reginald. Johnson made a good living in the 1920s designing houses in Montecito and Pasadena. Johnson made his name by designing houses for the rich, but also designed more affordable housing, a cause that assumed greater importance to him as the Great Depression wore on. In 1931 Johnso ...
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Brahea
''Brahea'' is a genus of palms in the family Arecaceae. They are commonly referred to as hesper palms and are endemic to Mexico and Central America.Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. All Hesper Palms have large, fan-shaped leaves. The generic name honours Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was ... (1546-1601). Species Formerly placed here *'' Washingtonia filifera'' (Linden ex André) H.Wendl. (as ''B. filamentosa'' (H.Wendl. ex Franceschi) H.Wendl. ex Kuntze) References External links Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - ePIC: ''Brahea'' {{Taxonbar, from=Q138362 Arecaceae genera Flora of Mexico Neotropical realm flora ...
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Queensland
) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_date = Colony of Queensland , established_title2 = Separation from New South Wales , established_date2 = 6 June 1859 , established_title3 = Federation , established_date3 = 1 January 1901 , named_for = Queen Victoria , demonym = , capital = Brisbane , largest_city = capital , coordinates = , admin_center_type = Administration , admin_center = 77 local government areas , leader_title1 = Monarch , leader_name1 = Charles III , leader_title2 = Governor , leader_name2 = Jeannette Young , leader_title3 = Premier , leader_name3 = Annastacia Palaszczuk ( ALP) , legislature = Parliament of Queensland , judiciary = Supreme Court of Queensland , national_representation = Parliament of Australia , national_representation_type ...
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Kauri
''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely restricted to the Southern Hemisphere except for a number of extant Malesian ''Agathis''.de Laubenfels, David J. 1988. Coniferales. P. 337–453 in Flora Malesiana, Series I, Vol. 10. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic. Description Mature kauri trees have characteristically large trunks, with little or no branching below the crown. In contrast, young trees are normally conical in shape, forming a more rounded or irregularly shaped crown as they achieve maturity.Whitmore, T.C. 1977. ''A first look at Agathis''. Tropical Forestry Papers No. 11. University of Oxford Commonwealth Forestry Institute. The bark is smooth and light grey to grey-brown, usually peeling into irregular flakes that become thicker on more mature trees. The branch structu ...
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Agathis Robusta
''Agathis robusta'' (syn. ''A. palmerstonii''), the Queensland kauri (pine) or smooth-barked kauri, is a coniferous tree in the family Araucariaceae. (Although sometimes called a pine, it is not a true pine, and has leaves, not needles.) It has a disjunct distribution, occurring in Papua New Guinea and Queensland, Australia. Populations in Papua New Guinea may be treated as the distinct species '' Agathis spathulata''. Distribution and habitat ''Agathis robusta'' occurs in two locations, a southern population on Fraser Island and around Maryborough, and a northern population on the Atherton Tableland west of Cairns; the northern population was formerly distinguished as ''Agathis palmerstonii'', but does not differ from the southern population and is no longer considered distinct.Whitmore, T. C. (1980). A monograph of ''Agathis''. ''Pl. Syst. Evol''. 135: 41-69. It is a large evergreen tree growing straight and tall to a height of 30–50 m, with smooth, scaly bark. The leaves ...
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Botanical Garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, and is the more usual term in the United Kingdom. is a garden with a documented collection of living plants for the purpose of scientific research, conservation, display, and education. Typically plants are labelled with their botanical names. It may contain specialist plant collections such as cactus, cacti and other succulent plants, herb gardens, plants from particular parts of the world, and so on; there may be greenhouses, shadehouses, again with special collections such as tropical plants, alpine plants, or other exotic plants. Most are at least partly open to the public, and may offer guided tours, educational displays, art exhibitions, book rooms, open-air theatrical and musical performances, and other entertainment. Botanical gard ...
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Araucaria Bidwillii
''Araucaria bidwillii'', commonly known as the bunya pine and sometimes referred to as the false monkey puzzle tree, is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the plant family Araucariaceae. It is found naturally in south-east Queensland Australia and two small disjunct populations in north eastern Queensland's World Heritage listed Wet Tropics. There are many old planted specimens in New South Wales, and around the Perth, Western Australia metropolitan area. They can grow up to . The tallest presently living is one in Bunya Mountains National Park, Queensland which was reported by Robert Van Pelt in January 2003 to be in height. The bunya pine is the last surviving species of the Section ''Bunya'' of the genus ''Araucaria''. This section was diverse and widespread during the Mesozoic with some species having cone morphology similar to ''A. bidwillii'', which appeared during the Jurassic. Fossils of Section ''Bunya'' are found in South America and Europe. The scientific name ...
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Senecio
''Senecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) that includes ragworts and groundsels. Variously circumscribed taxonomically, the genus ''Senecio'' is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. Description Morphology The flower heads are normally rayed with the heads borne in branched clusters, and usually completely yellow, but green, purple, white and blue flowers are known as well. In its current circumscription, the genus contains species that are annual or perennial herbs, shrubs, small trees, aquatics or climbers. The only species which are trees are the species formerly belonging to '' Robinsonia'' occurring on the Juan Fernández Islands. Chemistry Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are found in all ''Senecio'' species. These alkaloids serve as a natural biocides to deter or even kill animals that would eat them. Livestock generally do not find them palatable. ''Senecio'' species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species t ...
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Camphor
Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel ('' Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the kapur tree ( ''Dryobalanops'' sp.), a tall timber tree from South East Asia. It also occurs in some other related trees in the laurel family, notably '' Ocotea usambarensis''. Rosemary leaves (''Rosmarinus officinalis'') contain 0.05 to 0.5% camphor, while camphorweed (''Heterotheca'') contains some 5%. A major source of camphor in Asia is camphor basil (the parent of African blue basil). Camphor can also be synthetically produced from oil of turpentine. The compound is chiral, existing in two possible enantiomers as shown in the structural diagrams. The structure on the left is the naturally occurring (+)-camphor ((1''R'',4''R'')-bornan-2-one), while its mirror image shown on the right is the (−)-camphor ((1''S'',4''S'')-bornan-2-one). ...
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