University of South Florida Botanical Gardens, Academic botanical garden in Tampa, United States.

The University of South Florida Botanical Gardens covers 15 acres (6.1 hectares) on the Tampa campus, with 7 acres of developed gardens and 6 to 9 acres of natural greenbelt. Its zones include a palm garden, wetland forest, sand scrub beds, a subtropical shade garden and a medicinal herb garden used by the College of Pharmacy. Spiky yellow-green strap-like leaves and fern-like fronds grow in front of a large trunk with rough, dark bark, backed by a dense wall of broadleaf trees and shrubs.

The site began in 1969 as a teaching garden for the Biology Department, developed from previously disturbed woodland. Early plantings in the 1970s transformed it into an organized space with distinct plant sections.

The garden functions as a learning space where researchers study how plants grow and what they can be used for. Walking through different sections, you see how plants connect to practical fields like pharmacy and agriculture.

The gardens open mainly on weekdays with limited weekend availability, so plan your visit accordingly. Flat terrain and maintained paths make it easy to walk around and explore the different sections.

The medicinal herb garden is not a display bed: the USF College of Pharmacy uses it for research. Look for it among the themed plantings, alongside fruit trees, bonsai, carnivorous plants, cycads and succulents. The gardens hold over 3,000 plant taxa in all.