Oak Meadow

Featured Trees and Plants

Engelmann oak is a California and Baja California endemic, meaning it grows naturally nowhere else. Its range is centered largely in San Diego County, with smaller populations in Pasadena, Orange County, southern Riverside County, and Baja California.

A newly planted Western Sycamore (Platanus racemosa) is a clone of the Eagle Tree, a historic tree that stood for centuries in what is now Compton. The tree marked the northern boundary of Rancho San Pedro, one of California’s earliest Spanish land grants, established in 1784, linking its history directly to the story of land and settlement in the region. The eagles and other raptors that nested in its branches over more than three centuries, beginning before Spanish colonization, were part of its vital ecological significance. After the Eagle Tree fell in 2022, historians Kim Cooper and Richard Schave, founders of the Esotouric tour company conceived a plan to preserve the tree’s history and together with partners Donald R. Hodel, the California Botanic Garden, the Theodore Payne Foundation, and The Huntington collected and propagated cuttings so its living legacy could continue.

Toyon, also known as California holly, is the official native shrub of Los Angeles. Although it is often linked in popular lore to the name Hollywood, that association is incorrect. Its bright berries and habitat value make it one of the region’s most familiar native shrubs.

California grape has an important place in the history of global viticulture. After an invasive pest devastated European vineyards between 1870 and 1900, European grape varieties were grafted onto resistant North American rootstocks, including Vitis californica. California grape rootstock remains valued for disease resistance.

Native bunch grasses, including purple needle grass, help define the meadow’s grassland character. Purple needle grass is California’s state grass; its deep roots help it withstand drought and fire, and individual plants can live for decades, sometimes as long as 200 years.

Benches in Oak Meadow are made from wood salvaged from trees that fell during storms, returning material from the gardens to public use in a new form.

The project also connects with stories on view in the exhibition “This Land Is …,” including an oak slab from an Engelmann oak that once grew in front of the Library and fell during a storm on Jan. 17, 1993.

Located at the intersection of the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art, the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery, and The Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science, Oak Meadow will serve as a central gathering space within The Huntington’s landscape. 

Shaded by North American oaks and designed for movement and reflection, the meadow offers a place to experience the connections between art, science, and the natural world—whether passing through between galleries or lingering beneath the canopy.