What's Blooming at the Los Angeles County
Arboretum

April 2007
Page Two

Dianella tasmanica Tasmanian flax lily Liliaceae (Lily family) Tasmania, SE Australia

Eucalyptus platypus Round-leaved moort Myrtaceae (Myrtle family) Western Australia

		The Sterculiaceae is also known as the cacao family. It is a mostly tropical and subtropical family with 65 genera and 1000 species and takes its name from the genus Sterculia, which is named in turn from the Latin stercus, "dung or manure," from the unpleasant smell of the flowers and leaves of some species. The family is composed mainly of shrubs and trees with simple, alternate leaves and flowers with five connate sepals and five or zero petals. As is the case with other families, a revision is likely in the works for Sterculiaceae and its close relatives Tiliaceae and Bombacaceae. Some sys- temists place the Sterculiaceae into the larger family Malvaceae. Many of the species in this family yield valuable lum- ber, and its best known products are chocolate and cocoa from Theobroma cacao and kola nuts from the genus Cola. Other familiar genera are Brachy- chiton and Fremontodendron.
Brachychiton rupestris Queensland bottle tree Sterculiaceae (Cacao family) Queensland

Athanasia acerosa Coulter bush Asteraceae (Sunflower family) South Africa

Gardenia thunbergia Thunberg's gardenia, White gardenia Rubiaceae (Madder family) South Africa

Aloe grandidentata No common name recorded Asphodelaceae (Asphodel family) South Africa

Cymbidium 'Tom Thumb' No common name recorded Orchidaceae (Orchid family) Hort.

Liriodendron tulipifera Tulip tree Magnoliaceae (Magnolia family) Eastern North America

Lippia micromeria Dominican oregano Verbenaceae (Verbena family) Dominican Republic

Collinsia heterophylla Chinese houses Scrophulariaceae (Figwort family) California and Baja

Calliandra haematocephala Red powder-puff Fabaceae (Pea family) South America

Cornus florida Eastern flowering dogwood Cornaceae (Dogwood family) Eastern North America

Achillea millefolium Yarrow (Common form) Asteraceae (Sunflower family) Circumboreal

Erythrina falcata Coral tree Fabaceae (Pea family) SE United States and Mexico

Aloe plicatilis Fan aloe Asphodelaceae (Asphodel family) South Africa

Anthericum saundersii Spider plant Liliaceae (Lily family) Africa and Europe

Ceiba pentandra Kapok tree Bombacaceae (Bombax family) Tropical South America

Nemophila menziesii Baby blue eyes Hydrophyllaceae (Waterleaf family) California

Gilia tricolor Bird's eye gilia Polemoniaceae (Phlox family) Western U.S.

Lupinus succulentus Foothill lupine Fabaceae (Pea family) Southwestern U.S.

Philadelphus X virginalis Miniature snowflake, Virginal mock-orange Hydrangeaceae (Hydranga family) N. America, SE Europe and Asia

Cotoneaster sp. Cotonoeaster Rosaceae (Rose family) Northern temperate regions

Ozothamnus diosmifolius 'Pink' Pink rice flower Asteraceae (Sunflower family) Eastern Australia

Salvia canariensis Canary Island sage Lamiaceae (Miint family) Canary Islands

Thymus serpyllum 'Elfin' Elfin thyme Lamiaceae (Mint family) N. Europe to NW Spain

Senecio viravira Dusty miller, Silver fern senecio Asteraceae (Sunflower family) Southern Argentina

Coleonema album White breath of heaven Rutaceae (Rue family) South Africa

Rehmannia elata Chinese foxglove Scrophulariaceae (Figwort family) China

April 2007 Page One

April 2007 Page Three