Botanical Museum Dr. João Barbosa Rodrigues, Botanical museum in Cursino district, São Paulo, Brazil

The Botanical Museum Dr. João Barbosa Rodrigues in São Paulo displays collections of plant materials that document Brazilian flora. The galleries are arranged with scientific presentations that explain different species and their characteristics.

Frederico Carlos Hoehne, an orchid specialist and first director of the São Paulo Institute of Botany, conceived the museum to complement the Botanical Garden's educational work. Construction began in 1940 and the museum opened in 1942, the centenary of João Barbosa Rodrigues's birth, whose name it took. A 1991 restructuring shifted the displays toward ecological awareness, and part of the collection moved to the Instituto Biológico herbarium.

The museum displays how plants shape Brazilian life and what native species mean to people across the country. The exhibits show connections between the flora and local communities.

The museum occupies a 150-square-metre cross-shaped building inside the São Paulo Botanical Garden, in the Cursino district, so access follows the garden's grounds. The five rooms are small and the walls were built to hold display cases, making the circuit short. Look for the terracotta plaques on the outside walls showing Brazilian flora before entering.

The museum building is shaped like a cross and covers 150 square metres across five rooms. Its exterior is decorated with terracotta tiles showing examples of Brazilian flora, and the interior walls were built to hold display cases of botanical samples.