Top 10 Best Botanical Garden in the World

1. Jardim Botanico, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

       A home to around 6500 species of plants, Jardim Botanico is located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is One of the best Botanic Garden to visit. The gardens were founded in 1808 and opened to the public in 1822. These gardens are spreaded in 140 hectare park lies at the foot of the Corcovado Mountain, far below the Statue of Christ the Redeemer.

2. Brooklyn Botanic Garden, New York, United States.

         Having an around 1000,000 visitors each year this 52 acre garden was founded in 1910 in Brooklyn, New York. Number of specialty inner gardens are part of this garden having rich plant collections, the Steinhardt conservatory, climate themed plant pavillions, an art gallery and many more.

3. Singapore Botanic Garden, Singapore.

            Singapor Botanic Garden, founded in 1859, is known to be one of the best botanical gardens in the world. This 74-hactare garden has rich flora including more than 20,000

orchids, a childeren's garden, an evolution garden, a ginger garden, a rainforest, and also wild monkeys, terrapins and much more.

4. Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden and Museum, Berlin, Germany.

            One of the best Botanical Garden in the World, Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden and Museum, was opened to the public in 1910. Rich in plants species that are over 22,000, the garden has an area of 43 hactares. The garden is a part of the Free University of Berlin, having a botancan museum in it.

5. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England.

            Having a world's largest collection of plants, the Royal Botanic Gardens are spreaded in an area of 300 acres. Except the Treetop Walkway, The Kew Explorer Train is the best way to get around in the park. The garden includes the famous  Davies Alpine House which is an echo friendly building that houses cool weather plants. The Royal Botanic Garden also includes a Water Lilly house, a Temperate house, a Palm house, and a Conservatory. These botanical gardens are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
 

6. Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden,Cape Town, South Africa.

          To preserve the country's unique flora, this garden was founded in 1913, located at the foot of Table Mountain. This garden is spreaded in 89 acres land havin rich flora. It is one of the best and among a few gardens that only cultivates indigenous plants.

7. Montreal Botanical Garden, Montreal, Canada.

            Montreal Botanical Garden was founded in 1931. This 75 hectares garden is known for the extent of its collections and facilities. It includes a Chinese Garden with a collection of Bonsai and Penjing, a Japanese Garden which is populated with Japanese Plants, the First Nations Garden is Populated with Canadian Plants, the Alpine garden and many more species.

8. Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden, Chonburi Province, Thailand.

            Opened to the public in 1980, this botanical garden is spreaded in a 500-acre land. The garden with rich flora includes a french garden, European Garden, Cactus and Succulent Garden, ant tower, butterfly hill, flower valley and orchid garden. It is one of the best place to visit if you are visiting to the Thailand.

9. Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, United States.

             This 23 acre botanical garden contains North America's largest collection of plants from cold temperate climates from around the world. The park also includes several other gardens, a conservatory and an amphitheater which hosts concerts during the summer.
 

10. Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, Kolkata, India.

         Spreaded in over a land of 109 hectare, the garden was previously known as Indian Botanic Garden or culcutta botanical garden is among the best Botanical Gardens of the World. These gardens holds over 12,000 specimens of different plants in which some plants are very rare.It also includes the Great Banyan Tree having age more than 250 years.
 

Corpse flower: A flower loving beetles and flesh flies more than butterflies.

Amorphophallus titanum(Titan arum)

 

A plant native to western Sumatra, growing in rainforests.
It consists of a fragrant spadix of flowers covered by a spathe which looks like a large petal.
The fragrance resembles a rotting meat attracting beetles and flesh flies for pollination.
The spadix is deep red in color with two rings of small flowers.
The upper ring bears male flowers and the lower ring bears female flowers(red colored stigma).
The female flowers open first, the after one or two days the male flowers open preventing the self-pollination.

At the time of blooming the spadix has a human body temperature which helps the smell to volatilize into the air and reach long distances. After pollination, the flower dies and a single leave (of a size of a small tree) grow from the underground corm.The pollinated flowers develop a globose berry of varying colors depending on species.
Each year the old leaf dies and a new leaf grows.Leafs are born on a green stem.

 







Since the flowers are  large and produce powerful smell it takes a lot of time and energy to bloom.
But the question is if the plant is producing carrion-like smell to attract the insects ,then why it is not producing sweet smelling flowers.

PLANT WITH A TAIL??????

Agave attenuata

Also known as" lion's tail" ,"fox tail" or" swan's neck".

It is an ornamental plant native to central Mexico.The stem grows 50 to 150 cm with grey to yellowish green leaves.
The inflorescence is a dense raceme of 2.5 to 3 meters with greenish-yellow flowers which are spike-like and it grows from the center of the leaf rosette.The plant got its name from  this stem of inflorescence as it resembles a tail.






Flowering is in spring and summer.

Usually,the original  plant dies after production fruits which are oval brown.

• Beside as ornamental plant,the flowers are edible and the agave nectar is used for sweetening instead of sugar.  
• Agave is a food plant for caterpillars of some butterfly and moth species.
• Natives of Mexico use this plant to make pen,nails,needles and strings for weavings.
• Leaf tea used for constipation and gas problems.
• Baked fibers used for making beverages.

This species of agave is rare in wild and often mistaken to have spines.But unlike other species,this plant has no teeth or terminal spines making it an ideal ornamental plant.

ORCHID WITH A HAMMER

Drakaea : The narrow lipped hammer orchid

The hammer orchid is an orchid endemic to Western Australia.

This plant is pollinated by a single species of male thynnid wasp using sexual deception.

The orchid's labellum( or lip) resembles in shape and scent of female flightless thynnid wasp.

Again the labellum is maroon in color and  with scattered hairs resembling the insect.

Flowering is in November to December ad produces capsule-like fruits with up to 500 seeds.

It has developed an intelligent mechanism for pollination.

The scent from the labellum mimicks the pheromone produced by the female thynnid and when the male detects the pheromone it flies in a zig zag pattern until it reaches the female.

Once the male reaches the labellum (attracted by pheromone) ,the wasp tries to fly away with the labellum. In this process, the thorax of male wasp comes in contact with the sticky pollen packet and the pollens get attached to the body of the wasp. The pollination is considered  successful only if this pollens fall on the stigma of same flower or of another hammer orchid.

 

This is a wonderful example of mimicry in nature for survival ...

The Largest Flower : Rafflesia

Rafflesia is the world's largest flower, but you are not going to get it at any of the florist shop of your area.



The bloom of rafflesia is too large and it is too smelly to include it in boquet.

Rafflesia grows about in an area of a yard and it smells like a rotting meat. This horrible odor helps this plant to survive.

The stench draws flies which pollinate the Rafflesia. This way the Rafflesia reproduces itself.

Rafflesia do not have stems, roots or leaves. Rafflesia do not produce chlorophyll.

Rafflesias are parasites that do not sting or bite but attach themselves to jungle vines. The vines serves as host plants which provide rafflesia with all nutrirional requirements.

Blooms In Thorns

"PEOPLE TRAMPLE OVER FLOWERS YET ONLY TO EMBRACE A CACTUS"
                                                                                    - JAMES JOYCE

Widely, cactus is not considered an attractive plant coz of its succulent leafless body coupled with thorns. But  this plant produces one of the most beautiful flowers.
There are about 1750 known species of this desert plant.
Few of them are

1. Easter Cactus(Hatiora gaertneri)
Flowering :Late Spring

2. Christmas cactus(Schlumbergera sps.)
Flowering : May month

3. Rats tail cactus(Discocactus flagelliformis)
Flowering: Blooms in spring

4. Orchid cactus(Epiphyllum sps.)
Flowering: Late winter to early spring

5. Claret cup flower(Echinocereus triglochidiatus)
Flowering: Late spring

6. Organ pipe cactus(Stenocereus thurberi)
Flowering: Months of April,May and June.

7. Globe cactus(Mammillaria sps.)
Flowering: In summer

8. Chin cactus(Gymnocalycium baldianum)
Flowering: Late April to early October

9. Saguaro sps.
Flowering: April to June

Blue Waterlily and White Waterlily : the two sisters of Nymphaeaceae family

"THE SKY WAS MIDNIGHT BLUE LIKE, WARM , DEEP, BLUE WATER, AND THE MOON SEEMED TO LIE ON IT LIKE A WATER LILY FLOATING FORWARD WITH AN INVISIBLE CURRENT"
                 - WILLA CATHER

"Blue like sky  and white like ice the two sisters and the true lovers of moon"

Often a woman's face is compared to a white lily  and the complexion of Lord Krishna to that of a blue waterlily.

Waterlilies are aquatic plants found in temperate and tropical climate throughout the world.
The  plant is  rooted in the soil inside the water body and leaves and flowers of the plant float on the surface of the water.

It bears  round leaves (with a notch in some species) and big single flowers with long pedicel.

The white lilies  bloom only during night and close with sunrise whereas the blue lilies blooms in morning and close at dusk.

These fragrant flowers remain for 2 to 3 days and are then shed leaving berry-like fruits.

• They provide  habitat and food for many aquatic animals.
• In china , the lily buds are used in Chinese cuisines.
• The rhizome used for fevers,cleaning wounds and sores.
• Fibers from water lilies used in textiles and handicrafts.
• Flowers used in rituals and scared purposes.

Though they were considered as weeds , now a days they are  increasingly used as ornamental plants.

White waterlily is the national flower of Bangladesh and  blue waterlily is the national flower of Sri Lanka, also the state flower of Andhra Pradesh(India).

In literatures and poetics ,they are symbolic of the grief of separation, separation from her lover moon...

The Midday Flower Or Copper Cups: Sun Of Earth

Pentapetes phoenicea

A small woody plant native to South Asia.
Small stellate hairs are found scattered on stem and leaves.
Though the flower looks like those of  hibiscus, we can identify them from their leaves which are olive green in color with serrated margins.

Flowers are with 5 red petals and yellow colored stamens.
The flowers are often compared to the sun as they are of glowing red color and blooms at night.

They produce elliptically shaped seeds which are covered with stellate hairs.

The plant is grown as a ornamental plant but considered as a weed in rice fields.
Sometimes used as a source of fibres.
This plant is mainly used in fever and snake bites.




"FLOWERS DOESN'T DREAM OF BEE. IT BLOOSOMS AND THE BEES COMES"
                                                                                                         - MARK NEPO

Flower Cursed For Worship: The Pandanus

Pandanus ordoratissimus

A Small shrub native to South Asia, India,Andaman and known  by several names like Screw pine, Screw tree, Fragrant Screw pine, Umbrella tree.
Its like a palm and the trunk of the plant is supported by roots which form a pyramidal tract.

They are dioecious plants producing male and female flowers on separate plants. The flowers are long ad white in color.

The male flowers are fragrant and female flowers produces fruits similar to pineapple.
Initially, they are green then changes to red as it matures.

                                        

• The flower has a sweet fruity odor that it is used in making perfumes and the scent is  powerful  even when dried.
• The male flowers are used and in making the distillate called Kewra water.

• The pandan is used in handcrafts like leaves are used for making mats and pandan ropes,bags.

 

• Leaves used to add aroma to dishes.
• Flowers used to flavor drinks and desserts.

Now story time ,

According to Puranas,  this Ketaki flower is not taken for worship in any temple bcoz it is cursed by Lord Shiva. One day , the Lord Vishnu ad Brahma had an argument on who is more  supreme. Now  Lord Shiva (the angry man) appeared in the form of a huge pillar of light and said , it will be settled by the one who found the end of this pillar. So Vishnu set off for the base and Brahma upwards. Lord Vishnu was unable to find the limit and admitted the defeat. But Brahma on his way up came across our Ketaki flower and Brahma  on inquiring, she said that she had been placed at the top of the pillar. Now the Bhrama ran his brain ,he took the flower back to Lord Shiva and told that he found the top of the pillar.This made Shiva angry and he punished Brahma the creator for lying and was banned from being worshiped.  Now for our Ketaki she was cursed that she would never be used again for worshiping or in any temple  for giving false witnesses.