For Taiwan's Native Plants, the Future Is Now

The story of the Pavilion of the Future starts with a "Tree of Life." This venerable old tree, which comes from Chang-hua, started life as a bodhi tree, but it was taken over by a banyan tree (which, being a kind of "strangler fig," always starts life in another tree and eventually kills and replaces its host), and this in turn was taken over by another banyan, forming a fascinating line of succession. It symbolizes the history of Taiwan, full of indomitable determination and vitality through generation after generation.

Led by the "Tree of Life," the pavilion displays the diversity of vegetation in Taiwan in themed areas, some based on climate, some on altitude, some on rarity, some by plant types.

The Rare Plants Area brings together 120 varieties of rare and precious plants native to Taiwan. Of them, 48 species are unique to Taiwan, while another 70 exist here only in tiny numbers.

Lu Wenbin, the chief supervisor of the Rare Plants Area, began coming up with preliminary concepts for the exhibit two years ago, and he began visiting all over the island, from the coastlines to the mountainous interior, looking for and acquiring specimens. These include the Taiwan cowtail fir, one of Taiwan's four most celebrated and unusual trees, which cannot be bought or sold because it is protected under the Cultural Assets Preservation Act, and had to be borrowed from a botanical garden for the exhibit.

Unfortunately, people just staring at a group of plants would be hard-pressed to get a feeling for their rarity or value. Moreover, with different types of plants flowering at different times, it is impossible to see all of them to their best advantage during the expo period. The best example of this is Lilium speciosum var. gloriosoide (a kind of "showy lily"). This native species is astonishingly beautiful when blossoming, but after the petals wilt and fall, the plant also withers, only coming back to full vigor the following spring. Because the flowering season is from August to October, the public only had a brief chance to see the flowers for a few days during the trial run of the expo; but since the expo runs from November to April, no visitors will have the privilege to see this resplendent flower.

In the Tropical and Subtropical Area, you can see common coastal plants like Bar-ring-tonia ra-ce-mosa, beach nau-paka, tree heliotrope, and Ja-tro-pha cur-cas. Ja-tro-pha in particular is now gaining a lot of attention-because of its biofuel potential, it may become an important cash crop.

In the Succulent Plants Area-where the layout of the plants is inspired by Penghu's famous "twin hearts" stone fish trap-you will see more than 500 varieties, including representatives of the families Cac-ta-ceae, Cras-su-la-ceae, Aga-va-ceae and Eu-phor-bia-ceae, creating an impressive once-in-a-lifetime sight. Of particular note is the "giant green fan" cactus (Opun-tia ficus--indica), which Aboriginal peoples once used as fencing to keep out intruders, and the feather cactus, which appears to have fungus covering its entire surface.

Tu Chi-yi points out that in the Temperate Plants Area, the flowers on display are especially brilliant and fresh because the current temperture suits them well. The most representative of these have to be the bulb flowers, including lilies, night jasmine, dahlias, poppy anemone, common grape hyacinth, tulips, and peonies.

The plants in this area come from places like Mt. Hehuan and Yushan (Jade Mountain), exclusively from altitudes of 3500 meters or above, where average annual temperatures are about 5°C. Varieties on display include the Yu-shan cane, the Yu-shan se-dum, the Yu-shan juniper, and Rhododendron ru-bro-pil-osum var. rubropilosum.

Pavilion of the Future executive director Liu Zhi-hui points out that the Yu-shan cane is seen as the "tree-line marker" for high-mountain plants, because once you get above these you will not see any more large trees.

Within the Special Exhibition Area, the themed flora displays feature some of Taiwan's major export plants, such as the dancing lady orchid, flamingo lily, and Malabar chestnut, while the Orchid Area offers a wide variety of Or-chid-aceae, whose elegance is only enhanced by placing them one next to the other. In addition, in cooperation with the Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center in Ping-tung, the Pavilion of the Future is exhibiting 500 varieties of both domestic and foreign rare and important plants that the center is working to save.

The privilege of being able to see a full array of Taiwan's plant life in the Pavilion of the Future is entirely due to the enormous efforts put in by staff to collect and maintain the specimens.

The challenges began with transplanting. Because the plants are placed directly in media within the exhibition hall, 80% had to have their roots trimmed. Liu Zhi-hui notes that plants become dormant in winter and grow in spring, so it is necessary to cut the roots a year early and place the plants in a nutrient-soil sack in order to maintain the absorption of nutrients.

To conform to the timing of the exhibition, workers had to break all the rules and transplant the specimens into the Pavilion of the Future in July, when growth is fastest. Some plants did not adapt very well to the move, and had to be replanted at the end of August.

In the two months since the expo opened, most plants in the pavilion have fared quite well. Yet it is this very success that gives Liu pause for thought. When spring comes and the plants begin again to grow, the tallest may very well run right up against the ceiling of the pavilion. At the same time, the roots of the very vigorous Tree of Life could penetrate through the floor.

It bears repeating that besides seeing this "diamond level" green building from the outside, you should also go deep inside and explore all these plants that are gems in their own right. This kind of opportunity will never come again!