Jardin Botanique d’EALA, DRC
The Botanical Garden of Eala was created in 1900 by the Belgian Emile Laurent, botanist of King Leopold II at the time of the Congo Free State. With its 371 hectares of primary and swamp forest and savannah, the Garden has long been considered the third botanical garden in the world.
Its primary purpose was to act as a test garden to introduce new species of plants and tree species into Africa, especially species of commercial interest. The Eala Botanical Garden has nearly 3,200 species of trees and herbaceous food or medicinal plants, its herbarium including some 7,760 samples and many trees with exotic fruits.
Its most emblematic collections are the Arboretum, the Rock Garden, the Palmetum, the plots of conifers and the plots of rubber clones. The Garden as a whole would contain 3,500 to 5,000 cultivated and spontaneous species. In 1908, he published his first catalog of plants and seeds offered for exchange or sale.
Epic Democratic Republic of the Congo Culture & Adventure Route © Monika Newbound
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