In the center of Paris, there is a garden dedicated to the fauna and flora, the «Plants garden».
This stroll in photos will take you to the fabulous greenhouses located in the garden. A place where exotic plants grow, a very lush and green heaven in the middle of Paris. The greenhouses are really grandiose and host an exceptional collection.
The greenhouses of the Jardin des Plantes are the heirs of the orangeries, designed to protect from frost the fragile trees of what is still called the Royal Garden. They were followed by the first real greenhouse documented on the initiative of Sébastien Vaillant in the 18th century, and then by three constructions, one of which was built under the aegis of Buffon in the following century, and finally destroyed. The buildings visible today, unique in scale and style, were built between 1834 and 1876, marking a turning point with the addition of metal to glass. This was followed by a large winter garden in 1930 and the Desert and Arid Environments Greenhouse in 2005.
You will enter the first greenhouse focusing on tropical rainforests, a sanctuary for biodiversity, where a single hectare can be home to several hundred tree species. From Africa, America and South- East Asia, the plants form a dreamy jungle. Walk between banana trees, lianas, ferns and orchids, climb the rock to enjoy the panorama of the greenhouse, discover the adaptations and functions of plant species. This is such a great experience!
In the long adjoining gallery, the heat is that of deserts and arid environments (United States, Mexico, Sahara, Australia...). In order to withstand the aridity, the flora must adapt. Everything is possible: burying themselves like rock plants, storing water in tissues like cacti, going dormant in seeds during dry periods...
The next greenhouse we find ourselves is in New Caledonia. In these lands, which have long been isolated, 76% of the species exist nowhere else! This specificity is a source of delight for scientists and visitors to the Museum. The greenhouse presents this flora in all its diversity, through five environments: the humid forest, the dry forest, the mining maquis, the savannah and the mangrove. This is an opportunity to admire majestic local tree ferns or endemic species that have become rare in the wild.
