Bogor Botanical Garden

One of the famous public gardens in Indonesia is the Bogor Botanical Garden. It lies 60 kilometers south of Jakarta. It was built at the order of the British Governor Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, but the Dutch Governor-General Van Der Cappellened opened it in 1817.

The large park covers an area of 87 hectares and has more than 15.000 kinds of trees and plants. There are 400 different types of palms , more than 5.000 kinds of orchids from Indonesia and abroad , and the giant Rafflesia which blooms only once a year. During the 19th century, this garden was famous for the study of tea,cassava,tobacco,cinchona, and the other plants. There is also a botanical library where students can find a lot of books on botany. In 1856 , at the northen part of the garden the Dutch built a palace for their governor general. It is open daily from 9.00 to 17.00 for visitors. 

Three branches of the Bogor Botanical garden are the Cibodas Botanical Garden, the Purwodadi Botanical Garden,and the Eka Botanical Garden. The Cibodas Botanical Garden was built in 1862 for the study of the flora and fauna on mountains . It covers an area of about 80 hectares on the slope of Gede volcano , 1.200 metres above sea level . The purwodadi Botanical Garden was built on the lower slope of Mt.Arjuna, east java in 1914 . It is about 3.000 metres above sea level . it covers an area of 85 hectares . Here people study plants of dry areas . The eka Karya botanical Garden was built in 1959 for the study of the flora on the mountains in west nusa tenggara . It covers an area of 50 hectares on the slope of Mt.Phen in Bali. It is between 1.250 and 1.450 metres above sea level.