List of Top 6 Botanical Gardens of India

Here is the list of top six botanical gardens of India:- 1. Indian Botanical Garden 2. National Botanic Garden 3. Lloyd Botanic Garden 4. Lalbagh Garden or Mysore State Botanical Garden 5. Botanical Garden 6. Garden of Indian Agricultural Research Institute.

Garden # 1. Indian Botanical Garden:

It is largest and oldest botanical garden of India. It is situated at Sibpur near Calcutta. It was formerly known as Royal Botanic Garden or Calcutta Botanic Garden. The Botanic Garden has completed its bicentenary year. Started by Robert Kyd in 1787, organised by William Roxburgh and developed by Nuthanial Wallich.

The garden occupies an area of 110 hectares. It is situated on the west bank of river Hooghly. It has nearly 15,000 live specimens including a large collection of bamboos, cycads and palms. It has two large green houses, several nurseries and special collections of Bougainuillea, Vitis, Jasminum and Nymphea. The giant water lilies like Victoria amazonica and V. cruziana are conspicuous in some of the garden ponds.

In the garden plants are grouped on geographical basis i.e. the typical plants of particular country are planted in a particular area and are growing in harmony with the climatic conditions congenial to them.

The Indian Botanic Garden is again the headquarters of the Botanical Survey of India under the Govt., of India. The Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta, is ex-officio Director, Botanical Survey of India, under whose guidance and control the botanical explorations of the Indian Empire are carried on by his staff.

The Industrial section of the Indian Museum is also under the Government of India and its control is under the Director, Botanical Survey of India. The Industrial Section of the Indian Museum is mainly the museum of economic and applied botanical specimens.

The famous landmark of the garden is the ‘Great Banyan Tree’ which is said to be about 500 years old with its present circumference of its canopy is more then its branches 29 m, 1,328 feet and its height of 98 feet. The tree is now growing without its unidentifiable identifiable main trunk.

The scientific publications of the Indian Botanic Garden, Calcutta, as also the Botanical Survey of India are:

(1) The Annals of the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta, consisting of monographs of families and genera.

(2) Shorter accounts of the Botany of the different areas of India are published in the records of the Botanical Survey of India.

(3) The annual reports of the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta, Cinchona cultivation in Bengal, and Botanic Survey of India are regularly published at the end of each year.

There is an arrangement for public lectures, but instructions in arboriculture are given free of charge by the members of staff to the officers of the Municipalities and public works and other departments.

There is an up-to-date library of the Botanical Survey of India in the Indian Museum. The Curator (Industrial) who mainly deals with applied botany, is also the librarian of the Botanical Survey of India.

A library is also maintained by the Indian Botanic Garden consisting of 31500 rare books and periodicals, which is chiefly meant for reference work and books are sent on loan to recognized botanists throughout India. This is said to be the oldest and best library in India.

The herbarium is India’s largest Herbarium with about 15,00,000 specimens. The herbarium was started by W. Roxburgh in 1793 at his own residence on the Hooghly river bank. It was moved to herbarium building in 1883 and is now in a modern four-storyed building.

There is a large collection of Icones, of which 2583 hand coloured illustrations forming the Roxburgh Icones takes the pride of place. The type specimens numbering over 10,000 and Wallichian Collections of equal number are housed in it.

A Palynology unit is attached to herbarium.

The Central Botanical laboratory came into existence on April 13, 1954, to conduct research on various disciplines of Botany viz., Cytology, Economic botany and plant physiology.

At present it is a section of Botanical Survey of India.

Special sections of botanic gardens:

1. Cactorium:

Botanical gardens or parts of botanical gardens where the main collections are of cactii species are called cactoria.

2. Orchidarium:

Collection of orchids in a botanical garden form an Orchidarium.

3. Bambusetum:

It is a botanical garden where the main collection is of bamboos.

4. Arboretum:

Botanical gardens or parts of botanical gardens where the main collections are of woody plant species are called arboreta.

5. Pinetum:

It is an arboretum where the main collections are of conifers.

6. Palm-house – small palm house and large palm house with branching palms.

7. Water-lily of Amazon – gaint water – lilies.

Garden # 2. National Botanic Garden, Lucknow:

It was originally the garden of Nawab of Ayodhya. Later it was converted into a Botanic Garden under the control of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.

The site of the National Botanic Gardens is popularly known to the public of Lucknow as Sikandar Bagh. Sikandar Bagh, however, is an old garden situated at the South-eastern corner of the present National Botanic Gardens. It was built by Nawab Saadat Ali Khan (1789-1814) and adapted by Wajid Ali Shah, the last King of Oudh, who named it after his queen, Sikandar Mahal Begum.

The present National Botanic Gardens is spread over about 75 acres on the south bank of the river Gomti. It is bounded on the south of Rana Pratap Marg and on the east by Ash ok Marg which runs through the old Sikandar Bagh. As we enter the garden from Ashok Marg, we shall see a large orchard on both the sides of the road.

That on the left is the Citrus orchard and on the right mango orhard with “dasehri”, “safeda” and other famous varieties of mangoes. Passing trough the Palm avenue there is Banyan Point occupied by an ancient giant Banyan tree with its trunk covered by huge leaves of Pothos.

Moving towards right from this spot we pass through the Rosarium with large and beautiful collections of roses, and reach the “Vanasthali” or Woodland, which is a large area, thickly planted with trees and forming a favourite picnic spot.

At the north end of Banyan Point is the Aquatic Garden including a beautiful lake with islands connected by a rustic bridge and stepping stones. Within the lake is a very good collection of aquatic plants including lotus and several varieties of Nymphaea.

The Conservatory with large number of shade-loving species is situated in the south-western portion of the garden. The space outside to its left and on the front side has been used in planting bulbous plants.

Three plant houses are situated on the Polyalthia Avenue. The one in front of the fountain is the Palm House in which a large number of species palm from different parts of the world are grown. A little apart from it is the Fern House having ferns from different parts of the world. Opposite the Fern House is the Orchid House. Cactus House containing large collection of cacti and other succulents.

Adjoining the Palm house is the Hydroponicum where several varieties of vegetables, fruits and flowering plants are grown in water – and – gravel cultures (soil-less cultures).

On the west of the Fern House are the Portable and Vertical gardens whee ornamental plants, vegetables, and fruit plants are grown in baskets, pouches supported on poles, in trays and wooden boxes, on tree-trunks, rocks and all kinds of odd objects.

It has well equipped laboratories of Tissue culture, Virology, Polynology, Physiology, Morphology, Aromatics, Cytogenetics etc.

Garden # 3. Lloyd Botanic Garden, Darjeeling:

The Lloyd Botanic Garden is situated in the district of Darjeeling.

It is situated at a distance of 386 miles by rail from Calcutta. The garden is situated at an elevation of about 6,000 feet in the East Himalayas. The indigenous plants represent more or less the characteristic flora of the Sikkim, Himalayas. The position of the garden in the heart of the Himalayas is unique of its kind in the east.

The land of the present garden was donated by Mr. William Lloyd in 1878, it was named after his name as Lloyd Botanic Garden. The progress of the garden was slow in the beginning.

The activities of this garden from 1910 onwards reached a high standard and the collection and distribution of seeds, plants and bulbs came to be a special feature of the work undertaken by its officers. In 1930 Mr. S. N. Basu became the permanent Curator of the garden.

The area of the garden is 40 acres. This area is roughly divided into three main sections (1) Upper indigenous section; (2) Lower exotic section representing many species from the temperate parts of the world; (3) Miscellaneous section with predominating species of the plants of the Eastern Himalayas and some of the species of hill plants of North Western India, Eastern India and Burma and of the Nilgiris in Southern India.

The permanent stock of a little more than one thousand five-hundred plants under cultivation represents the temperate floras of thirteen different countries of the world, arranged in 20 divisions into which the garden has roughly been divided.

The garden has an endless variety of evergreen and deciduous plants. Its charming terraces and slopes and beautiful combination of plants from various countries of the world leave an indelible impression on the minds of visitors. The beautiful alpine plants, geraniums, composites, rhododendrons, conifers as well as rock gardens, the conservatories, the herbaceous borders and the annual beds of flowering plants are some of the colourful features of the garden.

The spacious orchidarium contains over 12,000 specimens of beautiful orchids representing all habitats. In the coniferous section, the most attractive is the Australian Collitris with its evergreen bluish foliage. There are also tulip trees (Liriondendron elatus) and a collection of exotic oaks (Quereus species). Living fossil of Metasiquosia has been grown here.

Herbarium of over 30,000 common species of Eastern Himalayas are classical according to Bentham and Hooker’s Genera Plantarum. Rosary and Herbarium are its major attractions.

Garden # 4. Lalbagh Garden or Mysore State Botanical Garden, Bangalore:

This garden has won a priviledged place among the garden of the world and is regarded as one of the best in the east for its lay out, grandeur, maintenance, botanical interest and scenic beauty. Marshall Tito when visited India in 1955 commented “India is a garden and Lalbagh is the heart of it”.

This garden houses and nurses plants from Australia, Africa and South and North America. It has introduced, accomodised and multiplied edible, medicinal, industrial, ornamental and other economic plants from most of the parts of the world.

The name Lalbagh was first given to the garden by Hyder Ali in 1760; because of roses and other red flowers. In 1799 this garden was taken over by Military Botanist Major Waugh an employee of East India Company. In 1831 when the British occupied the province of Mysore, the charge of the garden was taken over by Chief Commissioner.

The greatest service to the garden was done by John Cameron who took its charge from 1874 onwards. Mn H. C. Jayaraja became the first Indian Director of the garden. In 1951 Dr. M. H. Mavi Gowda became the Superintendent of the garden and developed it into a place of beauty and scientific interest. Now the garden occupying an approximate area of 240 acres.

It is now a big centre of horticulture activities. It has well-equipped laboratories for soil and seed testings, and tree nursery, fruit nursery, school garden, herbal garden and economic garden.

Garden # 5. Botanical Garden, Saharanpur:

This garden started in 1779 when the muslim ruler Zabita Khan decided to spend the revenue of seven villages on the maintenance of a garden at Saharanpur. The garden has an area of nearly 40 acres with sections for Linnaean gardens and Agriculture and horticultural nurseries.

In the beginning the garden nurtured several plants obtained from America such as potato, tobacco, pine apple, guava, chillies, papaya, sapota etc. Later the state of affairs of the garden were in a process of deterioration and in 1876 Duthie took over as the Superintendent of the garden.

He selected young people from the garden staff and trained them for plant collection which resulted in the compilation and completion of the ‘Flora of Upper Gangetic Plains’. The collection of mosses at Saharanpur represented the rich flora of North-West Himalayas. The garden now is the horticultural research station of the U.P. Government.

Garden # 6. Garden of Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi:

It occupies an area 60 acres and is maintained mainly as an experimental garden of the Institute. Besides it carries on other functions of a Botanic Garden.

Besides there are Coimbatore Botanical Garden and Garden of Forest, Research Institute.

Botanical Survey of India maintains five experimental gardens:

(1) Barapati at Meghalaya,

(2) Pauri near Dehradun,

(3) Allahabad,

(4) Mundwa near Poona, and

(5) Port Blair.