Cacti, spurges and other plants from arid regions have been given a new home in the Botanical Garden: The new subtropical greenhouse was officially opened on Wednesday in the presence of Oldenburg's Lord Mayor Jürgen Krogmann.
The approximately 150 square metre greenhouse is home to plants from dry, mostly tropical regions. The various beds are organised according to the plants' adaptation forms: For example, visitors will find spherical cacti next to other spherical plants, plants with special water absorption are next to each other and thick-leaved rosette plants, regardless of their relationship, form a group. The highlight of the collection is the species Oldenburgia grandis. This shrub cannot be seen in any other Botanical Garden outside its native South Africa.
Integrated into the beds are interactive stations where interested visitors can, for example, prick a spurge or (almost) sit on one of the large cacti. The Green School will also have a workstation for school experiments. New animal species on display include a tarantula, bearded dragons (scaly crawlers) and ruined lizards.
The project was funded by the University, the School V - School of Mathematics and Science, the Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, the Botanical Garden and the Friends of Ilex. Plants were also donated, including by the Oldenburger Kakteenfreunde e.V. The total cost of the new building is around 330,000 euros.
