Paul Kessler

Hortus botanicus Leiden

The Hortus botanicus is Leiden University's green plant treasure-house. Plants from all corners of the world have been collected and cultivated, admired and studied in the magnificent garden and glass houses for more than four centuries. Most of the plants in the glass houses are from the Asian tropics, such as titan arums ('corpse flowers') from Sumatra and orchids from Borneo. A stroll through the garden takes you past giant trees, such as the Ginkgo biloba from 1785. The crowning glory is the Clusius Garden, a reconstruction of the first garden from 1594.