Century of succulents: How Missouri Botanical Garden’s desert legacy continues to thrive

Cacti and succulents are again the stars in the Shoenberg Arid House at the Missouri Botanical Garden. But the story of the flora from the desert regions of North America and beyond begins at the turn of the 20th century. These sometimes-spiky, always-hardy plants first went on display in the Cactus House in 1904. The Desert House followed in 1914. The collections expanded over the years, thanks to the staff’s intrepid expeditions: Noted botanist, professor, and director Dr. William Trelease traveled to Mexico in 1906 to bring back an array of agave plants. Newspapers boasted that the Missouri Botanical Garden rivaled England’s famed Kew Gardens for the range of specimens it possessed. The cacti became so popular and coveted that in 1931, a thief managed to steal more than 30 small succulents but had to leave a larger cactus behind because its spines were too prickly to conceal under clothing. Following the crime, the Desert House closed for six months, and when it reopened, it was “with the hope the wave of botanical larceny had subsided.”