"Mescaline Grove" – Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California

Impressively primordial in appearance, these groups of Australian and New Zealand tree ferns tower over other flora and lean out over the paths just south of the Conservatory of Flowers and toward the Lily Pond. I must admit that the experience was a little spooky – I kept wondering whether a carnivorous dinosaur would suddenly emerge from behind them! Not surprisingly, this part of the park was a favourite of the hippies in the 1960’s when it was sometimes referred to as Mescaline Grove.