Royal Botanical Garden Peradeniya
The Royal Botanical Garden of Peradeniya (Royal Botanic Gardens) is 5.5 kilometers west of Kandy in the Central Province in Sri Lanka . The botanical garden is about 80 hectares. In the garden over 4000 types of plants are shown, in addition to tropical plants such as orchids, spices and medicinal plants, plants from temperate zones are also cultivated. Every year over 1.2 million visitors come to the garden.
construction
The garden is surrounded by the mahaweli in the shape of a horseshoe in the west, north and east and is crossed by a branching network of paths. In the center is the Great Circle, along the river bank runs the so-called River Drive. An avenue of royal palm trees connects the Great Circle and north River Drive. In the southwestern part of the garden there is a lake in the shape of the island of Sri Lanka. Two bridges lead over the Mahaweli.
There are numerous themed gardens such as spice and herb gardens, ferns and pine groves, and orchid houses.
history
The history of the Royal Botanic Gardens begins in 1371 when King Vikramabahu III. ascended the throne and had his palace in Peradeniya on Mahaweli , which he surrounded with a pleasure garden. During the reign of the kings of Kandy, King Kirtisri (1747–1781) turned it into a royal garden. King Rajadhirarajasinha also resided here from 1780 to 1798 . When the English conquered Kandy, however, parts of the complex such as a vihara and a stupa were destroyed.
In 1810, on the recommendation of Joseph Banks, a botanical garden was laid out on Slave Island near Colombo . William Kerr was appointed as superintendent. In 1813 the garden was relocated to Kalutara because the plants could be cultivated there on a larger scale. After Kerr died in 1814, under the direction of his successor Alexander Moon, the garden was relocated to Peradeniya in 1821, which was better suited for a botanical garden. The exotic plants from Kalutara were transferred to Peradeniya by the subsequent superintendents until 1843. Under Moon's direction, the Royal Botanical Gardens were opened in 1824, although initially only the southwest part of the gardens was cleared and opened. The garden was mostly planted with cinnamon and coffee. Moon published his Catalog of the Indigenous & Exotic Plants Growing in Ceylon in 1824. It lists 1127 plants indigenous to Sri Lanka with their botanical and indigenous names. However, Moon passed away a year after the garden was opened, which has since been neglected. It was only with the appointment of George Gardner as superintendent in 1844 that the institution began its more active independent work, which it has continued ever since. Only 40 acres of the 147 acres were cultivated when Gardner took over the line. Mainly coconuts and vegetables were grown for sale to the government in Kandy. Gardner improved the condition of the gardens. New paths were laid, the jungle cleared and new plants introduced. However, his main work was researching the country's flora, so numerous new native plants were added to the collection. After Gardner died in Nuwara Eliya in 1849 , George Henry Kendrick Thwaites succeeded him. He ran the gardens for over thirty years. During this time, knowledge of Sri Lanka's flora was expanded and the Royal Botanic Gardens maintained their worldwide reputation as a scientific establishment. Thwaites published Enumeratio Plantarum Zeylanieae . During his tenure, more botanical gardens were founded in 1861 as the botanical gardens in Hakgala to Cinchona in Sri Lanka to introduce and 1876, the garden in Gampaha (Henarathgoda) for the cultivation of rubber. Thwaites' successor was Henry Trimen . He founded the Museum of Economic Botanicals, opened branch gardens in Badulla and Anuradhapura, and began publishing his work The Flora of Ceylon , which was finished by Joseph Dalton Hooker after Trimen’s death in 1896. From 1896, under the new head of John Christopher Willis , the scientific work was intensified. In the first few years work was mainly directed towards the introduction of useful and ornamental plants, but in later years activities in the direction of economic botany and agriculture developed up to the development of the Ministry of Agriculture in 1912.
The gardens were expanded during the leadership of HF Macmillan and TH Parsons. Macmillan wrote A Hand Book of Tropical Planting and Gardening during this time . Under DMA Jayaweera, who was appointed superintendent in 1945, knowledge of medicinal plants and orchids of Sri Lanka was expanded. DT Ekanayake, who became superintendent in 1971, pioneered the ornamental plant production in Sri Lanka. Under DB Sumithraarachchi, who managed the gardens from 1983 to 1998, numerous taxonomic work was carried out and the condition of the garden was improved.
Under the direction of DSA Wijesundara, other botanical gardens were established, for example Mirijjawila Dry Zone Botanic Garden (near Hambantota) in 2006. This is the first botanical garden to open after Sri Lanka's independence.
tasks
Today, the Botanical Gardens are responsible for the management and development of the Botanical Gardens, the National Herbarium, the Medical Plant Garden, the gardens in the official seats of the President and Prime Minister, the Commonwealth War Cemeteries, and the care of the sacred Bodhi tree at Anuradhapura and others of historical trees of Sri Lanka.
Web links
Coordinates: 7 ° 16 ′ 16 ″ N , 80 ° 35 ′ 44 ″ E