Adelaide Botanic Garden is a 51 hectare (125 acres) public garden at the north-east corner of the Adelaide city centre, in the Adelaide Park Lands. It encompasses a fenced garden on North Terrace (between the Royal Adelaide Hospital and the National Wine Centre) and behind it the Botanic Park (adjacent to the Adelaide Zoo). Adelaide Botanic Garden, together with Wittunga and Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens, comprise the Botanic Gardens of South Australia .
From the first official survey carried out for the map of Adelaide – Colonel William Light intended for the planned city to have a ‘botanical garden’. To this end : he designated a naturally occurring Ait of land that had formed in the course of the River Torrens. This initial Botanic Gardens was washed away when the River Torrens flooded. In 1854, after a public appeal to Governor Sir Henry Young gardens were established at the current location on North Terrace Adelaide. They were founded the following year and officially opened in 1857. The garden’s design was influenced by the Royal Gardens at Kew, England and Versailles, France.
One of the garden’s nineteenth-century directors was the well known botanist Dr Richard Moritz Schomburgk, brother to the German naturalist Robert Hermann Schomburgk. He was a major advocate for the establishment of forest reserves in the increasingly denuded South Australian countryside. Dr Schomburgk’s successor, Dr M. W. Holtze I.S.O., did much to make the gardens more attractive to the general public.
The Palm, or tropical, house is a Victorian glasshouse located to the west of the main lake. It was imported from Bremen, Germany in 1875, opened in 1877 and restored in 1995. As of 2007 it held a collection of Madagascar arid flora.
As part of Adelaide’s celebration of the Australian Bicentenary the conservatory was constructed in 1987 and opened in late 1989. The building was designed by local architect Guy Maron and has won awards for its design, engineering and landscaping. It is 100 metres (328 ft) long, 47 metres (154 ft) wide and 27 metres (89 ft) high making it the largest single span conservatory in the southern hemisphere. The conservatory houses at risk or endangered tropical rainforest plants from northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and south Pacific Islands. However, in early 2012 a controversial decision was announced, to remove tropical plants from the Conservatory due to rising power costs.
In April 2012 the entry fee to the conservatory was abolished.
The Museum of Economic Botany is dedicated to the collection and interpretation of ‘useful’ plants. It was established by Dr Richard Moritz Schomburgk, in 1879 and described as “the last purpose-built colonial museum in the world” and is located within the Botanic Gardens a short distance to the west on the main pathway. Built in Greek revival style and opened in May 1881, the building and its interior were extensively restored during 2008-09. Much of the collection originally on display in 1881 has been reinstated including a collection of papier mache and stucco replicas of various fruit and fungi. Displays of aboriginal artifacts, a subject neglected by the original museum, were prepared in collaboration with the South Australian Museum.
The Museum of Economic Botany is notable for the completeness of its preservation. The building, its interior decoration, showcases, collections and even many labels have survived since as early as 1865. The Museum of Economic Botany is on the Register of the National Estate, Register of State Heritage Items, Register of the City of Adelaide Heritage Items and has been classified by the National Trust of Australia.
This is a recommended attraction when visiting The Botanic Gardens
From the first official survey carried out for the map of Adelaide – Colonel William Light intended for the planned city to have a ‘botanical garden’. To this end : he designated a naturally occurring Ait of land that had formed in the course of the River Torrens. This initial Botanic Gardens was washed away when the River Torrens flooded. In 1854, after a public appeal to Governor Sir Henry Young gardens were established at the current location on North Terrace Adelaide. They were founded the following year and officially opened in 1857. The garden’s design was influenced by the Royal Gardens at Kew, England and Versailles, France.
One of the garden’s nineteenth-century directors was the well known botanist Dr Richard Moritz Schomburgk, brother to the German naturalist Robert Hermann Schomburgk. He was a major advocate for the establishment of forest reserves in the increasingly denuded South Australian countryside. Dr Schomburgk’s successor, Dr M. W. Holtze I.S.O., did much to make the gardens more attractive to the general public.
The Palm, or tropical, house is a Victorian glasshouse located to the west of the main lake. It was imported from Bremen, Germany in 1875, opened in 1877 and restored in 1995. As of 2007 it held a collection of Madagascar arid flora.
As part of Adelaide’s celebration of the Australian Bicentenary the conservatory was constructed in 1987 and opened in late 1989. The building was designed by local architect Guy Maron and has won awards for its design, engineering and landscaping. It is 100 metres (328 ft) long, 47 metres (154 ft) wide and 27 metres (89 ft) high making it the largest single span conservatory in the southern hemisphere. The conservatory houses at risk or endangered tropical rainforest plants from northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and south Pacific Islands. However, in early 2012 a controversial decision was announced, to remove tropical plants from the Conservatory due to rising power costs.
In April 2012 the entry fee to the conservatory was abolished.
The Museum of Economic Botany is dedicated to the collection and interpretation of ‘useful’ plants. It was established by Dr Richard Moritz Schomburgk, in 1879 and described as “the last purpose-built colonial museum in the world” and is located within the Botanic Gardens a short distance to the west on the main pathway. Built in Greek revival style and opened in May 1881, the building and its interior were extensively restored during 2008-09. Much of the collection originally on display in 1881 has been reinstated including a collection of papier mache and stucco replicas of various fruit and fungi. Displays of aboriginal artifacts, a subject neglected by the original museum, were prepared in collaboration with the South Australian Museum.
The Museum of Economic Botany is notable for the completeness of its preservation. The building, its interior decoration, showcases, collections and even many labels have survived since as early as 1865. The Museum of Economic Botany is on the Register of the National Estate, Register of State Heritage Items, Register of the City of Adelaide Heritage Items and has been classified by the National Trust of Australia.
This is a recommended attraction when visiting The Botanic Gardens