Santa Barbara has long had an especial interest in exotic flora. From the days of Ellwood Cooper and Joseph Sexton to the the time of Dr. Fracheschi, it has been a favorite place for the introduction of new species from all parts of the world. There are now in the old Ellwood Cooper place, in the grounds of Mrs. M.M. Yates, in what was formerly the Kinton Steven place, in Dr. Francheschi's former home, Montarioso, in the Gillespie and Hale places, on the grounds of Mrs. Thomas Bard at Hueneme and in Alameda Park, planted by Dr. A.B. Doremus, some of the finest specimens of rare trees and shrubs in California. Because of California's favorable climate, mnay species grow here in the open which are not hardy in the older centres of horticulture in the east. Such trees as the famous Lemon-scented Eucalyptus at Ellwood, the Cork Oak on West Montecito Street, and the Cape Chestnut in the Hale Place, are probably the finest specimens of their respective species in the United States. The herbarium of exotics, when completed, will be the basis for a check list of exotics grown in Santa Barbara and a guide to the fine specimens of rare species.
Since the days of Nuttall and Greene, very little systematic collecting of native plants has been carried on in the Santa Barbara region. The mountains to the north have never been thoroughly explored. No on knows where the desert flora, which pushes past Mt. Pinos into the upper Cuyama Valley, merges into the transition zone. Even in the short time that has elapsed since the herbarium was started, a number of interesting finds have been made. The type locality of Cheilanthes cooperi has been rediscovered. The remnants of a northern flora, as exemplified by such species as Vaccinium ovatum, Osmaronia cerasiformis and Lithocarpus densiflora have been discovered in several localities. Comarostaphylos diversiflora is known to occur at scattered points on the mainland. A flourishing stand of Adenostoma sparsiflora has been re-discovered (Baker collected a specimen but did not, so far as the writer knows, publish the occurrence).
The Museum has a Botanic Garden of fifteen acres which has been planted to trees, shrubs and herbs of the Pacific Coast. The ground has lent itself to the segregation of these in eight associational groups, those of the Redwood belt, those of the grass-land, those of the Santa Barbara Islands, those of the desert and so on. The site of this Botanic Garden is remarkable for its beauty and for is historic interest. It has a view of the mountains to the north and of the sea and the Santa Barbara Islands to the south, and contains the well preserved remants of the dam built by the Indians in 1779 to furnish water for the Santa Barbara Mission.
The nucleus of the Museum building was built, in 1923, by Mrs. R. G. Hazard, on land give by Miss Caroline Hazard. It was a cousin of Mr. R.G. Hazard and Miss Hazard, namely Mr. Barclay Hazard, who helped Dr. Greene in 1886 make his pioneer exploration of the Channel Islands. This service to botany is commemorated by the name Hazardia, given by Greene to a new genus which he separated from Aplopappus.
There is a footnote after Dr. Francheschi that is written by Willis Jepson as follows: "The introduction work of this pioneer plantsman is well described by Wilson Popenoe (Jour. Hered. 13:215)) under the name of E.O. Fenzi, but with a reference to the name Francheschi. By this name the Doctor was universally known in California and under it was issued his catalogs of exotic plants.-W.L.J.