    [United States Government Manual]
    [June 01, 1999]
    [Pages 45-47]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    UNITED STATES BOTANIC GARDEN

    Office of Executive Director, 245 First Street SW., Washington, DC 20024

    Phone, 202-225-8333. Internet, http://www.aoc.gov/.

    Conservatory, Maryland Avenue, First to Second Streets SW., Washington,
    DC 20024

    Phone, 202-225-6647

    Production Facility, 4700 Shepherd Parkway SW., Washington, DC 20032

    Phone, 202-563-2220
    Director (Architect of the Capitol)               Alan M. Hantman
        Executive Director                            (vacancy)

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    The United States Botanic Garden informs visitors about the aesthetic,
    cultural, economic, therapeutic, and ecological importance of plants to
    the well-being of humankind.

    The U.S. Botanic Garden carries out its mission by presenting artistic
    displays of plants, exhibits, and a program of educational activities;
    promoting botanical knowledge through the cultivation of an ordered
    collection of plants; fostering plant conservation by acting as a
    repository for endangered species; and growing plants for the
    beautification of the Capitol complex. Uniquely situated at the heart of
    the U.S. Government, the Botanic Garden seeks to promote the exchange of
    ideas and information relevant to this mission

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    among national and international visitors and policymakers.
        Collections of the U.S. Botanic Garden include orchids, epiphytes,
    bromeliads, carnivorous plants, ferns, cycads, cacti, succulents,
    medicinal plants, rare and endangered plants, and plants valued as
    sources of food, beverages, fibers, and other industrial products.
        The U.S. Botanic Garden is currently undergoing a significant
    expansion and transformation. The Conservatory, one of the largest
    structures of its kind in this country, closed to the public on
    September 2, 1997, for a complete renovation. In addition to upgraded
    amenities for visitors, it will feature 12 new exhibit and plant display
    areas interpreting plants in their relationship to humankind and to the
    environment. The Conservatory is expected to reopen in the year 2000,
    along with the National Garden which is now under construction on the 3-
    acre site just west of the Conservatory. This new public facility will
    feature a First Ladies water garden, a formal rose garden, a showcase
    garden displaying the outstanding native plants of the Mid-Atlantic
    region in naturalistic settings, and the Senator John Heinz
    Environmental Learning Center.
        Outdoor plantings are showcased in Bartholdi Park, a home landscape
    demonstration area. Each of the displays is sized and scaled for
    suitability in an urban or suburban house site. The gardens display
    ornamental plants that perform well in this region arrayed in a variety
    of styles and themes. Also located in this park is Bartholdi Fountain,
    created by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904), sculptor of the
    Statue of Liberty.
        The Botanic Garden makes available many rare and interesting
    botanical specimens for study to students, botanists, and
    floriculturists . In addition to educational programs and special
    exhibits, a horticultural hotline is available to answer questions from
    the public.
        The U.S. Botanic Garden was founded in 1820 under the auspices of
    the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences, an
    organization that was the outgrowth of an association known as the
    Metropolitan Society and that received its charter from Congress on
    April 20, 1818. The Garden continued under the direction of this
    Institute until 1837, when the Institute ceased to exist as an active
    organization.
        The Botanic Garden remained abandoned until 1842, when it became
    necessary for the Government to provide accommodations for the botanical
    collections brought to Washington, DC, from the South Seas by the U.S.
    Exploring Expedition of 1838-42, under the leadership of Capt. Charles
    Wilkes. The collections were placed temporarily on exhibition at the
    Patent Office upon return of the expedition in June 1842. The first
    greenhouse for this purpose was constructed in 1842 on a lot behind the
    Patent Office Building under the direction and control of the Joint
    Committee of Congress on the Library, from funds appropriated by
    Congress.
        The act of May 15, 1850 (9 Stat. 427), provided for the relocation
    of the Botanic Garden under the direction of the Joint Committee on the
    Library. The site selected was on The Mall at the west end of the
    Capitol Grounds, practically the same site the Garden occupied during
    the period it functioned under the Columbia Institute. This site was
    later enlarged, and the main area continued to serve as the principal
    Botanic Garden site from 1850 to 1933, when the Garden was relocated to
    its present site.
        Although the Botanic Garden began functioning as a Government-owned
    institution in 1842, the records indicate that it was not until 1856
    that the maintenance of the Garden was specifically placed under the
    direction of the Joint Committee on the Library and a regular, annual
    appropriation was provided by Congress (11 Stat. 104).
        At the present time the Joint Committee exercises its supervision
    through the Architect of the Capitol, who has been serving as Acting
    Director since 1934.

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    For further information concerning the United States Botanic Garden,
    contact the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, U.S. Capitol
    Building, Washington, DC 20515. Phone, 202-228-1793. Horticulture
    Hotline, 202-225-8333. Internet, http://www.aoc.gov/.

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