SHAW NATURE RESERVE

Shaw Nature Reserve, formerly Shaw Arboretum, is a five-square-mile nature preserve considered an extension of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. The area was opened in 1925, when coal smoke pollution from St. Louis threatened the botanical garden, especially its beautiful orchids. The flowers were moved in 1926. As pollution in Saint Louis decreased with less use of coal for heating, there was no need to move the rest of the live plant collection.