Hortus Botanicus (Amsterdam)
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Photograph by Dirk van der Made
Hortus Botanicus is a botanical garden in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. One of the oldest in the world, it was founded in 1638 by the city to serve as herb garden for doctors and apothecaries. It contains more than six thousand tropical and indigenous trees and plants, including a 2000-year-old agave cactus. The monumental Palm House dates from 1912 and is renowned for its collection of cycads.
Hortus Botanicus's initial collection was amassed during the 17th century through plants and seeds brought back by traders of the East India Company (VOC) for use as medicines and for their possibilities for commerce. A single coffee plant, Coffea arabica, in Hortus's collection served as the parent for the entire coffee culture in Central and South America.
Likewise, two small potted oil palms brought back by the VOC from Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, produced seeds after six years, and these were propagated throughout all of Southeast Asia, becoming a major source of revenue in the Dutch East Indies and now in Indonesia.
Recent additions to Hortus include a huge hothouse, which incorporates three different tropical climates.
