One thing that almost everyone visiting the UCLA campus
immediately recognizes are the rambunctious squirrels ““ they
pounce, scramble and may warm the hearts of students and faculty
alike.
But the furry creatures have failed to sway the heart of one man
on campus. Professor Arthur Gibson considers the squirrels equal
parts plague and weed.
“A weed is something that occurs in an area that’s
not wanted and the squirrels are weeds,” Gibson said.
Gibson, who is also the director of the Mildred E. Mathias
Botanical Garden, sees the squirrels ruin the garden on a daily
basis.
“They’re really bad for us because they really like
the precious plants and eat their tips,” he added, also
citing the squirrels for the reason why he had to take out the
misting sprinklers in the section of the garden which hosts native
Hawaiian plants, “they ate through the pipes. They’re
weeds.”
Overseeing the garden since 1980, Gibson works to create a
serene and educational environment for the garden which is eclipsed
by the rest of campus.
“It’s one of the oldest things on campus,”
Gibson said. “Before classes began the gardeners started
planting things.”
Rarely noticed by the student body, the botanical garden
combines the relaxation of a park with the awe of a museum.
Walking through the garden, visitors will traverse through
different climates and see plants from countries as far away as
South Africa and Nepal. Often times the plants are set up together
in special collections which highlight the climate they naturally
reside in.
“We have special collections rather like a 17th century
Dutch collection in an art museum,” Gibson said, referring to
collections such as the native Hawaiian plants.
Apart from the special collections the garden is unlike any
other botanical garden in Southern California due to its planning
and landscape.
Originally the garden stretched from Dickson Plaza all the way
to its current location on the corner of Le Conte and Hilgard
avenues. But it was never meant to be that big, Gibson said. When
the university started building more the garden shrank and the
plants came into close proximity with each other.
“The gardeners who were replanting probably thought the
plants would duke it out and one would die,” Gibson said as
he pointed to a pine tree growing right up next to a eucalyptus
tree.
Some of the landscaping is an accident, while other arrangements
are specifically planned to bring plants together.
“We’re unique because we mix and match things that
have no business being together … dawn redwoods, bamboo, figs,
tropical climbers,” Gibson said.
Along with the unique landscape of the garden, it also boasts a
few records, which make it’s director very proud. “The
garden has the tallest eucalyptus tree in southern California and
the second tallest angiosperm (flowering tree) in the United
States. … These are what we call the Old Bones.”
As much as the garden is capable of amazing those that visit it,
it also provides a calming atmosphere – particularly for the
doctors, patients and visitors of the nearby hospitals. Located
directly across from the Factor building and a short stroll from
the Jules R. Stein Eye Institute and other medical buildings, the
garden offers a convenient retreat.
“It’s a rest area for the medical center … to
relax, calm down … lots of people eat lunch here,” Gibson
said.
Others, such as local Westwood residents Daewon Kwon and his
wife Chong, come to the garden for relaxation and a little bit of
exercise. Chong said that the two of them come to the garden often
and always stop at the Medical Center beforehand for “great
coffee”.
The garden also brings back memories of Chong’s college
days as an art student at UCLA, she said. “I remember this
one picture I took that’s looking up into the
trees.”
“We like to come here for our walks, for the great air,
and the great shade,” Daewon said, with Chong adding
“It’s just perfect.”
In addition to what the garden can provide for its visitors,
Gibson says he is very proud of the garden’s namesake.
“She (Mathias) earned her Ph.D in 1929, when women with
Ph.D’s were really rare … in the 1930s she got a job as an
herbarium assistant at UCLA. Can you imagine an herbarium assistant
when she was a Ph.D?” Gibson said.
Mathias was an expert on the carrot family and dedicated her
life to the study of plants and helping others learn about them.
She also co-starred with Dr. William Stewart in a weekly gardening
show “The Wonderful World of Ornamentals” on NBC
television from 1962 to 1964.
In addition to the landscaping changes Mathias undertook she
also taught at UCLA and did research on her plants.
Though there are currently no UCLA professors doing medicinal
research at the garden, Gibson said it is always a possibility. For
now, the garden’s quarterly newsletter offers some
information about plants with medicinal properties.
Ann Hirsch, a UCLA professor of molecular, cellular and
developmental biology, recently wrote about a plant called Noni in
the newsletter, “Noni is used as a skin ointment for boils,
sores … and a tea for high blood pressure.”
Mathias accomplished many great things for the botanical garden,
and Gibson, in his current role as director, says he hopes to do
the same.
One of the many things he’d like to add to the garden is a
“tropical plants” section in the northern corner.
“Wouldn’t it be great to have tropical flowers and
tree frogs? It’s one of my dreams … but, I’d need a
Spielberg-like donor willing to give $2-3 million,” Gibson
said.
Another special collection Gibson plans to add is an aquatic
plants collection with lilies and Venus’s-flytraps, as well
as expanding other existing collections.
To maintain and expand the garden, Gibson has a staff of three
and a half people (one part-time) in addition to volunteer
gardeners.
“It’s a lot of work. We’re lean, mean and
really efficient … We wouldn’t be able to do it without the
volunteers,” he said.