The kingdom of this plant consists of indoor and outdoor parts. Looking from the outdoor garden, it is surrounded by tall trees with a history of more than 100 years and ancient plants from all over the world, which still retain the original appearance of the garden. The thousands of still flourishing plants in the garden not only show people the beauty of nature, but also show the academic scene of several centuries ago.

Entering the indoor greenhouse is another scene. There are a large number of tropical and subtropical plants and many endangered species, such as carnivorous plants (pitcher plants, flycatchers, etc.), cycads (iron trees, etc.), thatch plants, Lithocarpus, etc.

Hortus Botanicus Leiden was founded in 1587. Its botanical garden and greenhouse have a history of more than 400 years. It is the oldest botanical garden in the Netherlands and the oldest botanical garden used for scientific research in Europe. At first, the area of the park was only 1400 square meters, but more than 1700 kinds of plants were collected, and later more than 3000 kinds were developed. At the end of the 16th century, only five institutions in Italy and Germany had such botanical gardens for teaching.

After hundreds of years' efforts, the botanical garden now has more than 10000 plants and dozens of birds. It integrates scientific research, education, exhibition and other functions, becomes a favorite activity place for scholars and citizens, and a "green treasure house" in Europe. Sightseeing in the garden, whether it's the ancient plants with hundreds of years of history outdoors or a large number of tropical and subtropical plants in the greenhouse, will be a plant hunting trip.

Carolus Clusius (1526-1609), the founder of botanical garden, is a famous botanist in Europe. In 1593, he came to Leiden University as a professor and became the first director of the botanical garden. He cultivated and studied tulips that were not available in Western Europe at that time, so he was called the father of tulips in Western Europe.

In 1592, an Austrian Ambassador living in Turkey (Ogier gisleen van busbeke) gave some tulip seeds to Coruscant before his death, and he took them to Leiden, where he began to cultivate and study them. Later, he produced many varieties with different patterns and colors. In addition to tulips, he studied corn, tomatoes, potatoes and tobacco brought from the new world.

With the continuous cultivation and rapid promotion of tulips, the Netherlands has become the country of tulips. Now, tulips export in the Netherlands accounts for 40% - 50% of the international flower market. When it comes to tulips, most people think of Holland rather than Turkey (tulips are widely believed to be native to Turkey).

In 2015, the Chinese medicinal botanical garden was established in the botanical garden of Leiden University. The rose and other Chinese flowers from China are floating across the sea, attracting a lot of tourists in the medicinal botanical garden.

The Chinese garden is located in the open space between the pond and the canal in the center of the botanical garden. The park is circular, and the boundary is separated from other areas of the park by bamboo fences as screens. The flat cobblestone road divides the garden into a network, in which various Chinese plants are planted in the flower field, and the scientific name, species and origin of the plants are indicated on the label. Lingxiao flower is seen under the bamboo fence, lotus is seen in the pond, and there are small scenes of traditional Chinese painting style everywhere. The overall style is totally different from the traditional Chinese garden with winding paths and pavilions, but a little similar to the modern Chinese botanical garden.

With more and more Chinese plants settled in this garden, the Chinese garden will not only help Dutch people to understand Chinese plants, but also become a valuable key for people to unlock the natural code.

Source: China Environmental News