Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden

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The Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden near Krugersdorp in the Gauteng Province is one of the state botanical gardens in South Africa , which are maintained as research and educational institutions by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).

The botanical garden is a relatively new facility of its kind in South Africa. It was founded in 1982 as the Transvaal National Botanic Garden and laid out on a vacant site in the western area beyond Johannesburg . In 1987 the complex was opened to the public as the Witwatersrand National Botanical Garden ( afrikaans : Witwatersrand Nasionale Botaniese Tuin ). It has had its current name since 2004, named after Walter Sisulu , a political companion of Nelson Mandela . In front of this garden there was a natural area that had been used for recreational purposes for a long time.

location

The Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden is now located on a western border section of the metropolitan municipality of City of Johannesburg , which had expanded over the years. However, only a smaller part extends to the Johannesburg side. Further west it continues in the area of ​​the local parish Mogale City . The city councils of the regional communities Roodepoort and Krugersdorp had made communal areas available for the project. The area surrounds a rocky elevation as part of the Witwatersrand landscape . In the south, the settlements Noordheuwel and Roodeport border the botanical garden.

In the center of the partially park-like area, the watercourse of the Crocodile River falls over the cliffs and forms the Witpoortjie Falls . The name comes from a time when visitors from the direction of Johannesburg used the train to get there and got off at Witpoortjie Station to reach this area on a hike.

  • View of functional and subject areas

  • Witpoortjie waterfall

  • Visitor area

  • Landscape in the botanical garden

  • Landscape in the botanical garden ( Senegalia caffra , formerly Acacia caffra )

  • Historical scene at the waterfall, 1893

Subject and functional areas

Several thematic areas have emerged in the course of its development; Such are: Succulent Rockery Garden ( succulent and rock garden), Cycad Garden ( cycads ), Water Garden ( aquatic plants ), Fern Trail (fern-way), arboretum , Geological Garden ( geological garden ), People's Plant Garden ( ornamentals ), Birds and Butterfly Garden ( birds and butterflies ), Dell section ( flood plain ), Waterwise Garden (water plants) and the Wildflower Area ( wild plants ). A concert space, which is also used for other events, is integrated into the thematically designed areas.

The eastern area of ​​the botanical garden is crossed by the crocodile river flowing north to the Hartbeespoort reservoir . Nearby is the Sasol Dam , a refuge for aquatic plants with an adjoining small wetland area.

The entrance center for visitors with a conference area ( Strelitzia Hall ), children's playground, a restaurant, an environmental education center ( Nestlé Environmental Education Center ) and its own scientific nursery complete the technical and communicative infrastructure of the botanical garden.

  • Protea caffra

  • Aloe mutabilis

  • Ensete ventricosum

  • Tritonia nelsonii

  • Encephalartos senticosus

  • Clematis villosa

  • Aloe striata

  • Justicia petiolaris in the greenhouse

Web links

Commons : Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d SANBI: History . at www.sanbi.org (English)
  2. ↑ Alice Aubrey: Senegalia caffra (Thunb.) PJHHurter & Mabb . In: PlantzAfrica from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (English)
  3. ^ SANBI: Water Garden . at www.sanbi.org (English)
  4. ^ SANBI: Central Section of Garden & Concert Area . at www.sanbi.org (English)
  5. ^ SANBI: Entrance, Retail & Conferencing . at www.sanbi.org (English)
  6. ↑ Alice Aubrey: Protea caffra Meisn . In: PlantzAfrica from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (English)
  7. ↑ Thompson T. Mutshinyalo: Aloe mutabilis Pillans . In: PlantzAfrica from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (English)
  8. ↑ Siyabulela Nonjinge, Yvonne Reynolds: Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) EE Cheesman . In: PlantzAfrica from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (English)
  9. ↑ MS Mothogoane: Encephalartos senticosus Vorster . In: PlantzAfrica from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (English)
  10. ↑ Cherise Viljoen: Clematis brachiata x villosa 'Silver Beard' . In: PlantzAfrica from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (English)
  11. ↑ Andrew Hankey: Aloe striata Haw. . In: PlantzAfrica from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (English)
  12. ↑ Cherise Viljoen: Justicia petiolaris (Nees) T.Anderson . In: PlantzAfrica from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (English)

Coordinates: 26 ° 5 ′ 5.2 ″  S , 27 ° 50 ′ 5.4 ″  E