CLAREMONT - The city had a representative in Beijing during the Summer Olympic Games and beyond.

It's not an athlete, but rather a portion of an exhibition on display from the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden.

The display is part of the World Botanic Gardens Exhibition co-organized by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), Chinese Academy of Sciences Botanic Gardens and Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Committee.

Information about 70 gardens worldwide - including 16 from North America - is on display, showing the sustaining work of botanic gardens throughout the world.

Through Nov. 25, the exhibit, "Homes for Plants - Gardens for Humans," will be at the Science and Technology Park in the Olympic Village, just down the road from the National Stadium "Bird Nest" and National Aquatics Center "Water Cube."

Naomi Fraga, botanical field studies coordinator at Rancho Santa Ana, submitted exhibit materials on the 86-acre California native gardens to the BGCI. It included historical information, the mission statement of the gardens and information on its programs.

The exhibition contains 70 panels containing stories from botanic gardens around the globe involved in plant conservation and research.

Visitors can watch videos provided by participating botanic gardens on a large LCD screen, learn more about the rare medicinal plants on display, or examine the displays of seeds, leaves or an interactive plant scent station that allows them to smell different oils and perfumes derived from fragrant plants around the world.

from: THE SUN http://www.sbsun.com/living/ci_10301212

Poster display from XTBG