You know the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, right? It’s the home of orchids and aphids, and tiny carnivores, and midnight pugilistics, and pugnacious Norman Mailer-looking bus drivers parking in the red zone. Well they‘d love to have you come visit their new exhibit, Edible Expeditions. Read all about it, below.
Mmmmmmmm… edible:
As always, click to expand. Via Jonas M Luster, d8c.org, or chez geek
(Now back in the day, there was a plan afoot to put some coca (that’s right - not cocoa, not cacao, just straight up coca, as in cocaine) on display at the Conservatory – it would have been part of a show about medicinal plants. But somebody put the kibosh on that idea as it might have embarrassed the San Francisco mayor of that era. Matier and/or Ross and the national press would have had a field day with that one, it was feared, and plus there would be security issues, etc. N.B.: this wasn’t so very long ago. Moving on…)
See you there! Don’t eat the plants!
Deets here and after the jump:
May 7 – November 1, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO – Vanilla, chocolate, coffee and curry – easy to find in the grocery store aisle, but how about in the jungle? This summer, the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park offers visitors a chance to see their food in the wild in a new exhibition called Edible Expeditions on view May 7 – November 1, 2009. It’s a discovery journey of edible plants from around the world full of surprises about the treats we eat.
Arranged in lush demonstration gardens, Edible Expeditions highlights the many delicious products that we enjoy from tropical countries. Over 50 species of popular and lesser-known plants will be displayed by geographic distribution.
Featured in the North American garden is the reigning king of candy – chocolate. The cacao tree is a native of the deep tropics of the Americas. This small evergreen tree produces bright orange fruit pods full of the seeds from which chocolate is made. The scientific name Theobroma means “food of the gods”, a reflection of the central role this plant played in the creation stories of ancient Mesoamerican cultures. Cacao beans became so important in the Aztec empire that they were used as currency.
The full release, after the jump.
