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St.
Croix St. George Village Botanical Garden |
Home to some thorny plants, such as the dildo cactus. | |||
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Time: 1-2 hours. Difficulty: 1. Trailhead: Located just off Centerline Road , 3.5 miles east of Frederiksted in Estate St. George. For information on fees and hours, call 340//772-3874. Sixteen acres of various gardens, considered one of the finest botanical collections in the Caribbean. In addition, you'll find the ruins and restorations of a 19th-century Danish sugar plantation workers' village. A map takes you on a self-guided tour through sites identified as the Rain Forest, Laura's Garden, the Cactus Garden, the original sugar factory, a cemetery and the largest Arawak Indian settlement on St. Croix. Some of the trees/plants identified are worthy of special mention. The dildo cactus is shaped just as you would expect but slightly more thorny than the (un)real thing. The pods of the prickly-barked sandbox tree were popular in the 1700s for holding sand for blotting ink. You can write on the leaves of the autograph tree, but please, go easy on the drawings of anatomic parts. The dildo cactus itself is shocking enough for some people. |
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