Photo Credit: Mark Lentz. Viewpoint: American desert area within Enid A. Haupt Conservatory within New York Botanical Gardens, within the Bronx; 12/29/01 4:39 PM.

Notes (Roving Rube): Even the Rube wouldn't think of walking onto the cactus display in the Conservatory of the New York Botanical Gardens but perhaps this is a reminder to parents to restrain their children &

Shortly after the Garden's founding in 1891 by the eminent botanist Nathaniel Lord Britton, the Board of Managers, which included Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and other illustrious figures, endorsed the building of a conservatory at the north end of the Garden's 250 acres in Bronx Park.

The Conservatory was built in two stages between 1899 and 1902 by Lord & Burnham, the premier greenhouse firm of its day, at a cost of $177,000 & providing nearly an acre of enclosed growing space.

When the first half of the Conservatory opened in 1900, it was crammed with 9,000 plants, mostly donated by patrons. In fact, the frugal Britton boasted that he spent only $100 of the Garden's funds for the displays. Descendants of some of these original plants are still on view today. (Source: NYBG.org)