Botanical Garden and
Floresta
da Tijuca
Talking a little about
The prosperous residential neighborhood of Jardim Botânico shares its name with the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden, where visitors can stroll through the orchid house, imperial palms, and giant water lilies. Nearby, in the lush Lage Park, you’ll find wooded trails leading from Corcovado Hill to the Christ the Redeemer statue and the tropical forest of Tijuca National Park. The area also boasts upscale bars and sophisticated restaurants famous for their cuisine.
Region
Southeast
Type of tours
Half day
Climate
Atlantic tropical
Include
Transfer, Guide and Admissions
Some
Curiosities
In the cactus garden of the Rio Botanical Garden, there is a plot dedicated to Africa. However, the plants in this plot, despite resembling cacti, are only very distant relatives. They actually belong to the euphorbia and apocynaceae families. Cacti are native to the Americas. There is only one species of cactus native to Africa.
One of the oldest plants introduced to the Botanical Garden is not a large tree but a small Quassia amara, planted in 1811 by the agronomist Paul Germain.
The Fountain of the Muses does not have a pump to draw water. The water system of the device relies solely on gravity to make the water spout.
The oldest house still standing in the South Zone is the Visitor Center of the Botanical Garden. Built in 1576, it was the headquarters of the Engenho de Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Lagoa.
In the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, there was a Panama hat factory operating within the Botanical Garden. The species Carludovica palmata was brought from the Amazon to be cultivated on-site as raw material for hat manufacturing. The idea was to compete with the biggest producers of that time: Chile and Peru.