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height ranges from only 3.2 to 9.8 feet (1 to 3 meters). I was surprised to see Brazilian pepper trees (Schinus ter- ebinthifolius), a medium size tree in California, growing as a low shrub and mixed with passion fruit vine (Passiflora sp.) and Brazilian cherry (Eugenia braziliensis). We toured several conservation areas dedicated to this unique plant community, including the coastal beaches of Recreio. Here, where there is tremendous development pressure, huge conservation easements to protect the restinga are placed between the white sand beaches and rows of mod- ern new apartment blocks. The afternoon brought a chance to observe some of the field staff at work clearing a coastal creek corridor of invasive exotics. Local residents are fond of tropical houseplants and Ficus benjamina seems to show up in parks and on streets everywhere. Interestingly, the clear- ing on this project also served an underlying purpose: to expose the creek to residents and call attention to a severe pollution problem of untreated sewage and runoff. The Foundation's hope is that pressure from residents and businesses will spur efforts to control water quality in creeks flowing to the ocean nearby. The next day I had the pleasure of visiting several nurs- eries, including two that are owned and operated by the City of Rio, and a privately held palm nursery. Rio cultivates many of its own trees for street and park tree planting, the vast majority of which are indigenous to the Atlantic Forest. Smaller sized trees, shrubs, and ground- covers are grown at the City nurseries at Jacarepagua and Taquara. Horto de Palmeiras (Nursery of Palms) is pri- vately owned and is more of an incredible collection than a nursery. It is inarguably the finest palm-growing opera- tion in South America. Most species are incorporated into the lush landscape so that clients, primarily landscape architects, developers, and wealthy estate owners can see the palms in situ. One field, adjacent to a helipad for busy clients, held palms grown in-ground as multiples of three, including triangle palm (Dypsis decaryi) and royal palm (Roystnea oleracea). The gardens contain every cycad and palm imaginable, including sunset palm (Areca vestiaria), Bismark palm (Bismarckia nobilis), ivory cane palm (Pinanga kuhlii) and the beautiful lipstick palm (Cyrtostachys renda), a stunning contrast of scarlet red stems against jade green foliage. The afternoon was one of the high points of my visit. After meeting up for lunch with Flavio's key staff, we took a short drive to the Estate of Burle Marx. Flavio had arranged a personal tour of this remarkable garden for me as well as his staff. Marx was an artist-turned-landscape architect. In 1949, Marx purchased approximately 99 acres (40 hectares) of an old plantation to store his many art 14 Bamboo tree protection cage Avenue of the Palms at Rio's Botanical Garden City Trees