Public Presentations of Plants: Colonial Legacies and Indigenous Perspectives in the Botanical Gardens of The Huntington

In light of recent demands to diversify and decolonize museums, which have influenced curatorial practices the world over, this article examines how the botanical gardens of The Huntington in Southern California communicate colonial legacies of their plant collections to the visiting public. Building on previous fieldwork-based research on colonial legacies and curatorial practices, the article aims to shed light on an area of museum studies that has so far not been researched as thoroughly as other parts of the museum world. Through examples from the Borderlands exhibition at The Huntington, as well as signs recently added to the displays of the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, the article shows that—although colonial legacies and Eurocentric descriptions remain present in public presentations of plants—efforts are being made to address these legacies and to include Indigenous names and perspectives in the text panels and plant signs of botanical gardens.