Madeira Botanical Garden, Botanical garden in Santa Maria Maior, Portugal.
The Madeira Botanical Garden, formally Jardim Botânico da Madeira-Engº Rui Vieira, covers about 8 hectares on a slope 3 km northeast of Funchal's centre. Its geometric beds of red, yellow and green low plants step down the hillside between low reddish-brown retaining walls, with a rectangular pool in the upper section and paths of Portuguese mosaic cobblestone. Sections include succulents, palms and cycads, an arboretum and Madeiran endemic species.
The Reid family established Quinta do Bom Sucesso on this site in 1881, which gradually transformed into the botanical garden that opened officially in 1960. Since its opening, the garden has grown into a research and conservation facility.
The garden's name honours Rui Vieira, the engineer after whom it was renamed in 2011. Its most photographed feature is the parterre of clipped shrubs arranged in coloured patterns, known as the choreographed gardens. The former manor house has held the Natural History Museum since 1982, showing mainly mounted animals, and the Louro Bird Park keeps around 300 exotic birds such as macaws, cockatoos and lories.
The garden is accessible by buses 29, 31, and 31A from Funchal city center and sits on sloped terrain. Comfortable walking shoes and plenty of time are needed to explore the different sections at a relaxed pace.
The garden has specialized sections dedicated to native Madeiran plants and rare medicinal herbs found nowhere else so easily. An amphitheater within the grounds offers sweeping views over Funchal and allows visitors to see the broader landscape context.
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