NEW YORK
BOTANIC GARDEN, BRONX
http://www.nybg.org
Founded in 1891, it boasts of being
a
Historic Landmark and is one of
the greatest botanical
gardens in the
world.
The garden consist of 250 acres
of landscaped
land, 50
fabulous
display
gardens; and 50 acres of
native forest.
This forest is the last precious swath
of untouched timbered land that once
occupied
New York City before the time
of skyscrapers.
It covered all of New
York
City long before European settlers
came in the 17th century. The grounds on which the garden is created, is
considered to be
one of the most
beautiful natural terrain of any botanical garden in the world.
It consist of dramatic rock outcroppings,
rolling hills, waterfalls and
ponds, the
Bronx River; and 50 acres of virgin
woods.
With
an enviable extensive
collection of more than one million
plants, it has something of interest
to keep all kids and adults busy and
entertained for days.
Their conservatory -
a famous New York City landmark, is
the largest Victorian-era glasshouse in America.
Visitors to NYBG are unaware that behind the facades
of all those world class display gardens are world class research being conducted within the confines of their laboratories. Hundreds of doctoral students and scientists are busy conducting research to advance
our current knowledge of plants, plant genomics and gene bar coding for human
medicine. Of
urgency is their race to document, save,
propagate; and preserved for mankind at least 400
medicinal plants that are currently at risk of extinction -
due to over collection or deforestation. This is a
great threat to discovery of future cures for many
diseases that affect our lives.
A visit here is one you should not miss
during your next shopping trip to New York City.
