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pieces. Over time, Marx became an expert collector of exotic and unusual plants and established an incredible landscape surrounding his house and studio. The estate, now a national monument, holds over 4,500 species of plants and includes a 5-acre (2-hectare) rare plant nursery. His use of broad swaths and large groupings of plants, free-form water features, and vistas punctuated by groves of trees and palms is classic Marx. The garden shows like a giant abstract painting with no edges. Here we saw rain- bow eucalyptus (Eucalyptus deglupta), Brazilian ironwood (Caesalpinia ferrea), and countless other trees and palms at their best. Marx is considered by many to be the most influential landscape architect of the 20th century. Sugarloaf Mountain with Floresta de Tijuca, the world's largest urban forest, in the distance Over the following days I was able to spend some time at Rio's Botanical Garden. Originally intended for accli- matization of spices from the West Indies, the garden was opened to the public in 1822. The Botanical Garden houses the School of Tropical Botany, an important tropi- cal plant research institute. Overall, the Garden contains more than 6,000 different species of tropical and sub- tropical plants, including 900 varieties of palm trees. The "Avenue of Palms" is a 2,460-foot (750-meter) double row of 134 royal palms leading from the entry into the garden itself. The palms, originally reserved for the royal family only, are descended from a single tree, the Palma Mater. Legend has it that the unused seeds were burned to keep them away from ordinary subjects. The Botanical Garden contains many threatened species of plants and trees, including a beautiful tree I grew to like, the pau mulato (Calycophyllum spruceanum). Reaching up to 131 feet (40 meters) in height with trunk diameters approaching 16.4 feet (5 meters), the bark is smooth and shiny, with thin green bark turning tan and dark brown. As the bark peels away in long, thin strips, it reveals a reddish layer of bark beneath. From a distance, the trunk looks almost varnished. Ancient mango trees almost 120 years old line paths, and huge figueiras with their giant root flares are evident in several areas of the garden. Preparation for the 2014 World Cup, Brazil's four hundred and fiftieth anniversary, and the 2016 Olympic Games are evident everywhere. Five main avenues serve as the principal links between the hundreds of neighborhoods in Rio. Most are undergoing some degree of expansion. Roadways that were double lanes in each direction are being widened to accommodate high speed traffic in the center lanes and low speed traffic in outside lanes, with bus and bike lanes flanking both. Medians sepa- rate each set of lanes, providing ample opportunity to incorporate trees and other vegetation. Street trees in the inner city seem to be thriving everywhere, even with the hustle and bustle of one of the largest cities in the www.urban-forestry.com 15