The glasshouses
Three climates under glass โ tropical, desert, temperate.
Shadowgate from Novara, ITALY โ CC BY 2.0 ยท Ymblanter โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Ymblanter โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Ymblanter โ CC BY-SA 4.0
Amsterdam monopolised the coffee plant through this garden: from its seedlings the Dutch sent coffee to their colonies, and much of the world's commercial coffee growing began here. So too the oil palm. This small garden changed the economy of continents โ half its charm is in that hidden history.
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The Hortus Botanicus is among the world's oldest botanical gardens (1638) โ Amsterdam founded it as a medicinal herb garden, then, thanks to the East India Company's fleet, it became a repository of rare plants the ships brought from Asia, Africa and the Americas: from here coffee and the oil palm spread to whole colonies, from a single seedling kept in this garden. Today four thousand species fill a small enchanting precinct: historic glasshouses with three climates (tropical, desert, temperate), a butterfly house, a three-century-old carob tree, and the world's oldest potted plant. A quiet green refuge in the Plantage quarter, away from the centre's bustle. A pleasant hour for lovers of plants, quiet and scientific history โ completing a Plantage walk with ARTIS and the Resistance Museum.
Three climates under glass โ tropical, desert, temperate.
From this garden coffee spread to whole colonies.
Free tropical butterflies among the rare plants.
Plantage Middenlaan 2a, 1018 Amsterdam