A $1.4 million donation to Austin’s Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center will establish an arboretum to showcase the diversity and importance of Texas’ trees.
The gift from an anonymous fund of the San Antonio Area Foundation at the request of Mollie Steves Zachry will allow the Wildflower Center to develop some of its most scenic acreage into an outdoor museum of Texas’ natural heritage and cultural history.
The Mollie Steves Zachry Texas Arboretum will display all 53 species of oak trees that are native to the Lone Star State.
The 16 acres also will feature descendants of significant trees that helped shape Texas history. Other features will include a collection of iconic native trees like black walnut, bald cypress, pecan and sycamore, and a demonstration of native trees recommended for use beneath power lines.
“Mrs. Zachry’s generosity will allow us to celebrate the magnificent trees of Texas in a setting where our visitors can relax and find inspiration,” said Susan Rieff, executive director of the Wildflower Center. “This gift honors Mrs. Zachry’s long dedication to conservation and her commitment to Lady Bird Johnson’s environmental mission.”
The arboretum is expected to open in 2012, the centennial year of Lady Bird Johnson’s birth.
“We intend the arboretum to be one of the state’s premier nature education resources,” said Damon Waitt, the center’s senior botanist who is guiding the arboretum’s development.
“It will be a place for tree identification, landscape design inspiration and field trips—a centerpiece for tree-related programs in Central Texas and another jewel in Austin’s environmental crown.”
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is part of the University of Texas at Austin.
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