Jardin Botanico Xerofito
Entrance to Jardín Botánico Xerófito "Dr. León Croizat"
Along the Caribbean coast of Venezuela west of Caracas is a hot, dry landscape known as the Medanos. A mixture of coastal sand dunes, low hills, and scattered vegetation dominates this arid, and sometimes barren-looking, region. Northeasterly winds from the sea impose a constant flow of salt laden air on the region for eight months of the year. During the 1960's Leon Croizat recognized this rugged coastal environment as an ideal locality to establish a botanical garden specializing in xerophytic plants associated with arid or desert environments. The efforts of Leon and his wife Catalina culminated in the formal opening of the Jardin in 1976 under the auspices of the Department of Parks with Leon and Catalina as co-directors.
The Jardin is located between the coastal sand dunes and the state highway about 10 minutes drive east of Coro, the capital of Falcon State. It is open to the public and visiting scientists. Michael Heads in 1982, and John Grehan in 1988 visited the Jardin during research on Leon Croizat's life and work.
Catalina Croizat. Director, July 1988
Catalina Croizat was born in Hungary and studies child psychology at universities in Italy and France. At the outbreak of the Second World War she emigrated and settled in Venezuela. In 1952 Catalina suggested to Leon Croizat that he devote all his time to botanical and evolutionary research. To help support his work she became a professional landscape architect after completing studies in California. In this new profession Catalina was responsible for designing many of the gardens for houses and government buildings in Caracas and her landscaping talents were later applied to the design and construction of the Jardin.
Garden paths
The main entrance of the Jardin comprises a white walled facade facing the state highway with a double entrance opening into a central row of plants bordered by a path to either side. Along the outer edge of each path is a row of flowering shrubs. Other paths lead off to a variety of enclaves surrounded by shrubs, hedges, and trees. Offices and research facilities are located to the left of the main entrance and a plant nursery is also located nearby. A diverse range of succulents and cacti are arranged in small gardens or placed on circular terraces. Several open-sided shelters on the park grounds are used for teaching visiting school students.
Crown of thorns (Euphorbia milii)
Two plant families were of particular interest to Leon Croizat - the Euphorbiaceae and the Cactaceae. These groups provided the basis for much of his botanical research on plant morphology, morphogeny, and evolution. Both groups are well represented in the Jardin where they flourish in the local climate. The visitor is presented with a challenging juxtaposition of leafless or spiny euphorbias alongside more familiar herbaceous plants such as the poinsettia. Many of the true cacti in the Jardin conform to the familiar appearance of the family, but there are also unusual forms such as Pereskia gauamacho with leaves and looks more like a shrub than a cactus. One Euphoria species, the crown of thorns, exhibits paired inflorescences subtending minute flowers terminating a stem with a bewildering mixture of leaves and slender spines. Seemingly strange combinations of this kind provided Leon Croizat with important insights into leaf structure and evolution.
Welwitschia mirabilis
Perhaps the strangest looking plant is the Welwitschia, a desert plant native to southwest Africa. The two specimens at the Jardin are of international interest as they are difficult to grow and there are few large specimens outside their native habitat. This plant has only two broad leaves that grow continuously throughout the life of the plant. As the leaves buckle and fray apart there appear to be numerous ribbon-like leaves.
Following Leon Croizat's death in 1982 at the age of 89, Catalina continued to direct the daily management of the Jardin until she passed away in 1997. The Jardin was supported by a number of Coro residents who formed the "Sociedad de Amigos del Jardin Xerofito" with Dr. Rodolfo Bastida as the president until he too passed away in 1997. The society was formed to help support the main operations of the Jardin and help maintain the Jardin's identify as an integral part of the city of Coro.
Catalina emphasized to me that the importance of the Jardin was not as simply another botanical repository, but as a living record of botanical diversity and the ecological relationships between plants and their environments.
