Montgomery Botanical Center

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Montgomery Botanical Center Advancing Research, Education and Conservation through Scientific Plant Collections Montgomery, and his love of palms and cycads.

A nonprofit botanic garden established in 1959, Montgomery Botanical Center keeps living specimens from wild plant populations worldwide. Emphasizing palms and cycads, the population-based, documented, scientific collections are available for study in Montgomery's 120-acre botanical garden of exemplary design. Montgomery Botanical Center (originally The Montgomery Foundation) was established by Nell Montgomery Jennings in memory of her husband, Colonel Robert H. Today, Montgomery Botanical Center advances botanical research, conserves rare species, and educates the community through workshops, lectures, publications, and tours of its scientific plant collections.

The Fall/Winter 2026 newsletter is now online. Highlights: a collecting expedition in Peru (page 4-5)-where an aquatic ...
10/08/2026

The Fall/Winter 2026 newsletter is now online. Highlights: a collecting expedition in Peru (page 4-5)-where an aquatic Zamia was discovered, the announcement of a new National Park in Bonaire where a Critically Endangered palm is now being protected (page 3), work being done with Cycas micronesia in Guam and at Montgomery (pages 6-7), and an article on the vistas at Montgomery (page 9). You can also see Research Updates and Team News on pages 10-11.
Montgomery Botanical Center publishes two newsletters a year to keep our supporters and collaborators up to date and informed. If you would like to support Montgomery online please visit our Support Us page. To read more about how Montgomery Botanical Center meets our mission of “Advancing Research, Conservation, and Education through Scientific Plant Collections” please see our newsletters online.

Hello everyone and welcome back to our post where we highlight one of the plant species here at Montgomery Botanical Cen...
10/02/2026

Hello everyone and welcome back to our post where we highlight one of the plant species here at Montgomery Botanical Center! This week we will be taking a look at Copernicia ekmanii, a beautiful solitary palm native to the northern part of Haiti where it can be found growing on well-draining, rocky soil.
Copernicia ekmanii has a crown that is comprised of tightly packed silver, almost pale blue, palmate leaves that are attached by petioles lined with curved thorns. These leaves have been regularly used for thatching material, though if not harvested will persist on the trunks for some time like these shown.
The inflorescences are interfoliar, being produced in between the leaves, and will extend beyond the canopy in the drooping fashion shown. The flowers are a pale green, sometimes white color, and have 3 carpels with 6 stamens that when pollinated will give way to small round fruit about 2cm in diameter that turn black when ripe.
In its somewhat harsh environment Copernicia ekmanii specimens have been seen growing roughly 4 meters tall. However, when placed in an area like a garden where things such as water and fertilizer are more readily available this species can grow upwards of 10 meters high. The specimens displayed here at Montgomery are around 4.3 meters now and we hope they continue to grow for many years to come.
The Montgomery Botanical Center Plant of the Week is made possible with the support of the Coral Gables Cultural Arts Division.

Daniel Tucker and Maria Sanin were interviewed about Sabal miamiensis at Montgomery Botanical Center by Telemundo 51 yes...
09/30/2026

Daniel Tucker and Maria Sanin were interviewed about Sabal miamiensis at Montgomery Botanical Center by Telemundo 51 yesterday!

Hello everyone and welcome back to our post where we highlight one of the plant species here at Montgomery Botanical Cen...
09/26/2026

Hello everyone and welcome back to our post where we highlight one of the plant species here at Montgomery Botanical Center! This week we will be taking a look at Caesalpinia granadillo, a small to medium sized tree native to parts of Venezuela, Central America, and the Caribbean but now more commonly seen in landscapes as it used in South Florida as a shade tree.
Caesalpinia granadillo is a species that can grow to heights of a little over 10 meters tall with an umbrella-like canopy spread to match it. Being comprised of bipinnately compound leaves in an alternate arrangement, the leaflets themselves are oblong shaped and emerge lime green before maturing into a dark green color. Its flaky trunk comprised of various shades of greys, greens and browns is its most distinguishing feature and can either be solitary or can form multiple leaders about a meter above its base.
This species makes small, bright yellow flowers that are formed in clusters at the end of branches that once pollinated will produce small brown to black seed pods.
Caesalpinia granadillo does best, and is commonly used, in full sun areas where its dense canopy can provide shade and act as a stand-alone specimen. Although it naturally occurs in more acidic soils, Caesalpinia granadillo can still do well in neutral to slightly alkaline environments which has helped it find itself several homes here in South Florida, including Montgomery Botanical Center.
The Montgomery Botanical Center Plant of the Week is made possible with the support of the Coral Gables Cultural Arts Division.

Montgomery is traveling around Miami today! Miami Dade College Kendall Campus is having EcoFest to introduce students to...
09/16/2026

Montgomery is traveling around Miami today! Miami Dade College Kendall Campus is having EcoFest to introduce students to conservation organizations. Visit our table from now until 2 pm in the Breezeway. Miami Dade College Miami Dade College - Kendall Campus

Montgomery is at Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus today for the Changemaker Expo! We will be here from now until 1:30 p...
09/16/2026

Montgomery is at Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus today for the Changemaker Expo! We will be here from now until 1:30 p.m. to meet potential student volunteers. Table set up in the Kyriakides Plaza, between buildings 1 & 2. Come and get some information about volunteering at Montgomery Botanical Center! Y . Montgomery Botanical Center Botany

Hello everyone and welcome back to our post where we highlight one of the species here at Montgomery Botanical Center! T...
09/11/2026

Hello everyone and welcome back to our post where we highlight one of the species here at Montgomery Botanical Center! This week we will be taking a look at Saribus rotundifolius, a palm species with an expansive native range from Borneo to New Guinea and parts in between.
This solitary species can grow to over 30 meters tall with a pale trunk that averages 20cm in diameter. Its canopy is comprised of large, round, palmate leaves that are a rich green color and are attached by petioles armed with thorns. These circular shaped leaves measure about 1.2 meters in diameter and is the reason for one for its common names of Round-leaf fountain palm. Once shed, the leaves will leave light leaf scars that will line the length of the trunk (as shown here).
Saribus rotundifolius is a monoecious species with each flower producing both stamens and ovules, which is referred to as a “perfect flower”. The inflorescences that hold these are nearly the same length of the petioles, reaching over a meter long and will stand out when full of maturing fruit. The round fruit begin their journey green, then into a bright red like the ones pictured here, before finally ripening into a black color.
When young this species does well in partial shade, though with time as it begins to overtake its surroundings it can be quite comfortable in South Florida’s full sun so long as its receives regular water and high humidity. All things that can be provided here at Montgomery.
The Montgomery Botanical Center Plant of the Week is made possible with the support of the City of Coral Gables Cultural Arts Division. City of Coral Gables

Professors and staff in the FIU Department of Earth & Environment kicked off the school year with a faculty retreat and ...
09/09/2026

Professors and staff in the FIU Department of Earth & Environment kicked off the school year with a faculty retreat and tour of Montgomery Botanical Center.

Tours are made possible with the support of the City of Coral Gables Cultural Arts Division. City of Coral Gables - Government FIU College of Arts, Sciences & Education Florida International University

Hello everyone and welcome back to our post where we highlight one of the species here at Montgomery Botanical Center! T...
09/05/2026

Hello everyone and welcome back to our post where we highlight one of the species here at Montgomery Botanical Center! This week we will be revisiting Zamia variegata, a cycad species native to Guatemala, Belize, and parts of Mexico.
Zamia variegata has a subterranean trunk that averages 24cm long by 9cm wide and can form multiple crowns with age, each crown making up to 3 leaves at a time. These leaves are erect with an arch that begins about two-thirds up and has heavily spined petioles with the whole leaf measuring up to 2.5 meters long. Each leaf can hold up to 30 pairs of serrated leaflets of varying size and varying amounts of variegation (as shown here). The leaves are primarily a dark green with streaks of yellow plotted throughout and it is because of this unique leaf appearance that the species got its name, Z. variegata.
The pollen cones tend to be emerge with as many as 6 per crown and measure up to 10cm long by 2.5cm in diameter with a pale brown appearance. The seed cones are usually solitary, covered in a red brown tomentose and can be up to 15cm tall by 6cm in diameter. Here we have various examples, with some being bagged in a thin mesh covering to prevent any non-target pollination.
Its natural habitat consists of lower elevation forests with dense canopy consisting of pines and oak. We at Montgomery have placed this unique species in an area that matches that, protecting it from most of the harsh South Florida Sun with the aid of our oak and palm species.
The Montgomery Botanical Center Plant of the Week is made possible with the support of the City of Coral Gables Cultural Arts Division.

Address

11901 Old Cutler Road
Coral Gables, FL
33156

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 3:30pm
Tuesday 7am - 3:30pm
Wednesday 7am - 3:30pm
Thursday 7am - 3:30pm
Friday 7am - 3:30pm

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+13056673800

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