Lloyd's Botanical Garden, or Darjeeling Botanical Garden, is a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

History

Lloyd's Botanical Garden was established in 1878 when of land was acquired at Darjeeling to form a botanic garden as a distant annexe of the Calcutta Botanical Garden. The land was provided by William Lloyd, in whose name the botanical garden has been named.

Location

The Garden is situated just below the Eden Sanatorium in an open slope covering an area of about , bound by Cart Road and Victoria Road on the North, by Jail Road and Hari Ghose Road on the south, by Eden sanatorium on the east and Victoria Road on the west. This Garden is one of the main attractions to the visitors to Darjeeling with a treasury of many rare and beautiful plants as well as patches of typical forest of tall Cryptomeria, Bucklandia and Alnus with thick mass of lianas and shrubby undergrowth. It is a favorite spot of recreation with vistas across some of the loveliest slopes, a paradise to the students and research workers in Botany and an eminent institution distributing the plants and seeds and specimens of temperate and sub-temperate Himalayas to different parts of the world.

Approach

The botanical garden has four gates. Gate No:1 ( Iron Gate or Loachnagar gate) is approachable from the taxi stand. The road is very steep but shorter than the other approaches. Vehicles can reach this gate, but there is no parking facility. Gate No:2 (Staff gate) can be approached from the Sadar Police Station. This path is through the settlements and is narrow and can be reached on foot only. The road will lead to the staff quarters and a flight of stairs will lead to Gate No:2.Approaching Gate No:2 on foot is comparatively easier than reaching other gates on foot. Gate No:3 (Chandmari gate) can be reached through Haro Ghose road which passes through the bazaar. Vehicles can reach this gate, but no parking is available. Gate No:4 (Victoria gate) is on the Victoria road and provides entry for visitors entering from the Western side.

Collections

The Darjeeling Botanical Garden preserves several species of

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

arisaema ''Arisaema'' is a large and diverse genus of the flowering plant family Araceae. The largest concentration of species is in China and Japan, with other species native to other parts of southern Asia as well as eastern and central Africa, Mexico ...

cotoneaster ''Cotoneaster'' is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to the Palaearctic region (temperate Asia, Europe, north Africa), with a strong concentration of diversity in the genus in the mountains of southwestern China a ...

, wild geranium, and

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

—

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equi ...

s of the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region,

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

region, and other neighbouring regions. Also, several exotic plants are preserved. The

Cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

and

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 ...

collection of 150 species is displayed in the Conservatory. The collection of native

Orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s from the

Singalila Ridge The Singalila Ridge is a north–south mountain ridge running from northwestern West Bengal through Sikkim in the Indian part of the Himalayas. The district of Ilam in Nepal falls on the western part of this ridge. The ridge separates mountain r ...

in present-day Singalila National Park is rare and notable. The Indian Botanical Garden Network's Garden code ascribed for this garden is WB-DBG.

Orchids

References

Places of Interest in Darjeeling
', Darjeelingnews.net. URL accessed on 8 May 2006.

External links

Indian Botanic Gardens NetworkAbout Lloyd's Botanical Garden
{{coord, 27.0446, 88.2629, type:landmark_region:IN, display=title Tourist attractions in Darjeeling Botanical gardens in India Protected areas of West Bengal 1878 establishments in India Protected areas established in the 1870s