Botanical Garden in Kolkata is an endeavor of the state government of West Bengal to maintain the ecological balance of Kolkata. The Botanical Garden of Kolkata , situated beside the river Hooghly in Shibpur, was founded in 1786 with a motive to promote the floral wealth of India.
The Botanical Garden covers an area of about 110 hectares and consists a wide range of tress and plants that are on the verge of extinction. The park remains open everyday for the visitors from 10 am in the morning to 6 pm in the evening.
The Botanical Garden originally contained nearly 12,000 living plants and over 2.5 million dried plant specimens in the herbarium collected from different parts of the world. Founded by Colonel Alexander Kyd of the East India Country, the Botanical garden was constituted for the collection of the indigenous trees and also for the acclimation of the foreign plants.
Presently, the garden contains rare species of trees from Nepal, Java, Sumatra, Brazil, Penang, Sicily, etc. In the Botanical Garden of Kolkata , one can find :
• mahogany trees
• Cuban Palms
• mango trees
• tamarind trees
• banyan trees
• coconut trees from Sicily
• multicolored bamboo trees
• the mad tree
• branching palms trees from Brazil
• orchids
• a variety of aquatic plants (including the rare Victoria Amazonica), and
• various kinds of cacti.
The major tourist attraction of the Botanical Garden is a 250 year-old tree, known as Ficus Bengalhensis. The tree is about 98 feet high, and has a circumference of nearly 1,300 feet - a rare sight for the tourists!
The Botanical Garden , situated about 19 kilometers from Chowringhee, is a popular picnic spot where tourists of all age group can enjoy their time in the lap of mother nature.
