The Pretoria National Botanical Garden is one of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

's nine National Botanical Gardens. The garden is wedged between Pretoria Road and Cussonia Avenue in Brummeria, in eastern

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothi ...

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

, and flanks a central rocky ridge that runs from east to west. The garden was established in 1946, and of late hosts the headquarters of the South African National Biodiversity Institute.

History

The Garden was initially known as the 'Pretoria National Botanic Garden' and opened in June 1946 when the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 ...

granted approval from the

Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

for the development of a botanical garden on a piece of land that was previously part of the University’s Experimental Farm. The farm had to be abandoned due the presence of poison leaf (''

Dichapetalum cymosum ''Dichapetalum cymosum'', commonly known as gifblaar from Afrikaans, or occasionally by its English translation, poison leaf, is a small prostrate shrub occurring in northern parts of Southern Africa in the family Dichapetalaceae. It is no ...

''), a plant which is poisonous to livestock. The Garden was officially opened on 23 October 1958, but it could only be visited by special arrangement because it was primarily a research facility under the management of the 'Botanical Research Institute' (BRI), which traces its origins back to 1903. The Institute amalgamated with the 'National Botanical Gardens of South Africa' to form the 'National Botanical Institute' in 1989, which in turn became the 'South African National Biodiversity Institute' (SANBI) in 2004. The Garden was then opened to the public on a daily basis in 1984.

Layout

The day visitors' entrance is along Cussonia Avenue. This western section contains the wetland,

cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male o ...

garden,

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

garden, useful plants garden, medicinal garden and enabling garden. Situated among these is a restaurant, concert stage, tea garden and function hall beside an

artificial waterfall An artificial waterfall is a water feature or fountain which imitates a natural waterfall. Artificial waterfalls have long been featured in traditional Japanese gardens, where they can serve to highlight a scene or to provide focus. The clas ...

. It has an avenue of ''

Bolusanthus speciosus ''Bolusanthus speciosus'' (tree wisteria) is a species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. It is the only member of the genus ''Bolusanthus'' . Description It is a small deciduous tree, which can ...

'' trees by Mr Jan Evens in 1946. Situated around the center of the garden is the National Herbarium, Biodiversity Center and Environmental Education Center. The

Mary Gunn Mary Davidson Gunn (15 March 1899 – 31 August 1989) was a South African librarian and biographer who developed and expanded the Mary Gunn Library into one of the most important resources on botany and biodiversity in Africa. Early life Gun ...

Library is housed within the National Herbarium. Aloe Lodge (formerly Velcich House) north of the ridge is destined to house offices of the Working for Wetlands and Grassland Programmes. The eastern side of the garden is less developed. An arboretum and natural grassland is located here, besides the

Dassie Hyraxes (), also called dassies, are small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails. Typically, they measure between long and weigh between . They are superficially simila ...

walking trail along the central ridge, and the garden offices.

References

External links

South African National Biodiversity Institute

* Buildings and structures in Pretoria Gardens in South Africa Tourist attractions in Pretoria Botanical gardens in South Africa {{garden-stub

History

Layout

See also

References

External links