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[applause] knew >> we are going to finish off a with [inaudible]. yeah. [applause]. [music playing].

>> [applause].

>> [applause].

>> the san francisco cons tri of flowers in golden gate park is now showing a new exhibit that changes the way we see the plants around us. amy stewart's best-selling book, "wicked plants" is the inspiration behind the new exhibit that takes us to the dark side of the plant world. >> i am amy stewart. i am the arthur of "wicked plants," the weeds that killed lincoln's mother and other botanical atrocities. with the screens fly trap, that is kind of where everybody went initially, you mean like that? i kind of thought, well, all it

does is eat up bugs. that is not very wicked. so what? by wicked, what i mean is that they are poisonous, dangerous, deadly or immoral or maybe illegal or offensive or awful in some way. i am in the profession of going around and interviewing botanists, horticulturalists and plant scientists. they all seem to have some little plant tucked away in the corner of a greenhouse that maybe they weren't supposed to have. i got interested in this idea that maybe there was a dark side to plants. >> the white snake root. people who consumed milk or meat from a cow that fed on white snake root faced severe pain. milk sickness, as it was culled, resulted in vomiting, tremors, delirium and death.

one of the most famous victims of milk sickness was nancy hangs lincoln. she died at the age of 34, leaving behind 9-year-old abraham lincoln. he helped build his mother's casket by carving the woodallen petition douche the wooden petition himself. >> we transformed the gallery to and eerie victorian garden. my name is lowe hodges, and i am the director of operations and exhibitions at the conls tore of -- cons tore of flowers. we decided it needed context. so we needed a house or a building. the story behind the couple in the window, you can see his

wife has just served him a glass of wine, and he is slumped over the table as the poison takes affect. a neat little factold dominion about that house is actually built out of three panels from old james bond movie. we wanted people to feel like i am not supposed to be in this room. this is the one that is supposed to be barred off and locked up. >> the ole andersonner -- oleander. this popular shrub is popular in warm climates. it has been implicated in a surprising number of murders and accidental deaths. children are at risk because it takes only a few leaves to kill them. a southern california woman tried to collect on her husband's life insurance by putting the leaves in his food. she is now one of 15 women on california's death rowan the only one who attempted to

murder with a plant. >> people who may haven't been to their cons tore or been to -- do serve tore or their botanical garden, it gives them a reason to come back. you think let's go and look at the pretty flowers. these are pretty flowers, but they are flowers with weird and fascinating stories behind them. that is really fun and really not what people normally think of when they come to a horticultural institution. >> "wicked plants" is now showing at the san francisco conserve tore of flowers. unless next time, get out and play. >> many people are not awaf

this building was built in 1936. as a board to preserve the history and make the students aware of that history. the partnering between sfmoma and the arts commission means they will be more aware of the artwork that we have here, the artists that painted a, and the history behind this itself. >> students came from george washington, and it was wonderful to have them on a panel. people from the school board, those who have been painting for years, some conservative errors from the getty. to have them tell us about the works of their school was important. it represents african-american artists to during the 20's and 30's used an incredible body of work.

it is one of the most incredible works of art in the city, bar none. it is a huge mural of incredible works. >> the san francisco civic arts collection has been in existence since the turn of the century. it consists of everything from monument to golden gate park to market street, other works in the collection, from the wpa era, the quite tower, the works from the george washington high school. we have the contemporary education, where they depict some of the vocational arts that were taught at george washington high school. what is interesting is the artist's and corp. of some of the -- incorporation of some of the architectural elements. they used the speaker from the p a system as part of the design.

on the opposite side of the library, we have a large fresco which depicts the academic subjects that were taught at the time. it serves as a foil to the other fresco in the library, we have academic subjects on one side, vocational subjects on the other, and result is the concept of a well-rounded education. additionally, what we plan to do is the academy of hospitality and tourism will be part of, so the students can share with other students, faculty, the neighborhood, and others to come by and what to look to the artwork we have. >> by working with the students, we hope to raise awareness of the collection and foster stewardship.

we brought diego rivera to the city. i think the wpa art work is characterized by stylized robustness and a pervasive occupation with a historical. in this panel, we have a depiction of george washington moving west. what is interesting about it is the image of lewis and clark here is in black and white, something that is occurring in the future, painted as though it was in the past. what is interesting about it is the very obvious conclusion of slavery. the number of students were expressing unease around some of the themes. the additional mural would be