Botanical Gardens (Penang Botanic Gardens) description and photos - Malaysia: Penang Island (Topic)

Penang Botanic Gardens description and photos - Malaysia: Penang Island. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Penang Botanic Gardens.

Photo and Description

The Botanical Gardens, a century-old park with an excellent layout, is set eight kilometers from the center of Georgetown.

It was founded in 1884 by the British in honor of Charles Curtis, the first governor Penang. A man keen on botany, Curtis began collecting plants from the local jungle, which became the basis of the future garden. Its area of 30 hectares today is filled not only with an absolutely complete collection of local flora. Here you can see samples of plants from the jungles of India, South America, African and Asian countries, islands. The Botanical Garden has a cactus garden, a collection of aquatic plants, an orchid garden and a rock garden. Local vegetation is located in conditions close to real ones. It means, that the park is represented not only by beautifully decorated shrubs and manicured lawns, but also by wild vines and tropical jungle areas.

The fauna of the garden is made up of a considerable number of monkeys living on its territory and waiting at the entrance with gifts of visitors.

A cascading waterfall is perfectly inscribed in the garden landscape complex, thanks to which the park is often called “waterfall gardens ".

The waterfall and reservoir are privately owned but can be visited with a special permit. The reservoir, an oval man-made shape, was created in 1892 by an engineer from Britain, James McRichie. The falls in the 19th century were the main source of fresh water supply for ships arriving at the port of Penang. The height from which the water begins to fall is 120 meters.

In 1910, the gardens located in the valley were threatened with flooding; this place was planned for a reservoir. For this purpose, the botanical garden was transferred to the municipality. The plan was then rejected and the gardens returned to the government in 1912. In the period up to 1921, the efforts of subsequent leaders of the garden bore fruit. The collection of herbarium has significantly increased, a considerable time was devoted directly to gardening and botanical work. New structures and buildings have been added, but the main structures, their shape, location, pathways and road configurations, are still not much different from Curtis's original design.

The site that was once granite quarries is today the most beautiful Botanical Garden and "lungs" of Penang Island. The garden is unique for Malaysia and is considered a national treasure of the country.

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Topic: Botanical Gardens (Penang Botanic Gardens) description and photos - Malaysia: Penang Island.