Dr. Rafael Ma. Moscoso National Botanical Garden, National botanical garden in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Dr. Rafael Ma. Moscoso National Botanical Garden is a large public space in Santo Domingo designed to display the island's diverse plant life across different ecological zones. The site is organized into distinct sections, each representing different environments found throughout the Dominican Republic, allowing visitors to walk through varied landscapes all in one location.

The garden was created by Decree No. 456 of 1976 under President Joaquín Balaguer and inaugurated on 15 August 1976. It was designed by architect Benjamín Paiewonsky, who served as its first director until 1996, and built by engineer Joaquín Ruiz on a former military training ground. It honours Rafael María Moscoso, author of the 1943 Catalogus Florae Domingensis.

The garden's emblem is a leaf of the guanito palm (Coccothrinax argentea), a species native to the Dominican Republic. The site functions as a permanent museum displaying the country's eight most important ecosystems, and its Japanese garden, with bamboo, araucarias and a torii arch, adds an Asian element to the collections.

The garden covers about 2 million square metres in the Distrito Nacional, bounded by Avenida República de Colombia, Avenida República de Argentina, Avenida Los Próceres and Calle Los Conquistadores. Small trains run from the central plaza through the tropical forest areas. The terrain is flat and the soil limestone; paths connect the sections, but distances are long, so plan several hours and wear comfortable shoes.

At the entrance stands a large floral clock made from living flowers with moving hands that actually mark the time. This working piece of garden art combines timekeeping with natural materials in an unexpected way that surprises most visitors.