Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden, Botanical garden in Worcester, South Africa.
The Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at the base of the Hex River Mountains near Worcester, featuring both cultivated succulent displays and areas of natural vegetation. The grounds combine designed spaces with wild landscapes to showcase the plant diversity of the Karoo region.
The garden opened in 1921 as the Logan Memorial Garden near the Whitehill railway halt, about 5 km from Matjiesfontein towards Laingsburg. An acute water shortage forced its move to Worcester in 1945. It has carried its present name since 2001 and is one of nine National Botanical Gardens run by SANBI.
The garden displays plants that are characteristic of the region, and visitors walk through areas where these species grow in conditions similar to their natural habitat. The pathways guide you past different plant communities that show how life adapts to the dry landscape.
The garden is open daily and offers pathways of varying difficulty that allow you to explore the grounds at your own pace and fitness level. There are walking routes throughout the property, making it easy to navigate and spend as much time as you wish in different areas.
Of the garden's 154 hectares, only 11 are cultivated; the rest keeps the natural Robertson Karoo succulents and patches of threatened Breede Shale Renosterveld. Three tortoise species live here: the angulate, the leopard and the parrot-beaked tortoise.
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