The Jardin des Plantes de Lille (11 hectares) is a municipal botanical garden

Botanical garden

A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

 located on the Rue du jardin des Plantes, Lille

Lille

Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...

, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. It is open daily without charge.

Today's garden was established in 1948 as a successor to various city botanical gardens dating from 1596. It is one of three botanical gardens in Lille

Lille

Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...

, the others being the Jardin botanique de la Faculté de Pharmacie

Jardin botanique de la Faculté de Pharmacie

The Jardin botanique de la Faculté de Pharmacie , more formally the Jardin de la Faculté des Sciences Pharmaceutiques et Biologiques de l'Université de Lille 2, is a botanical garden and arboretum operated by the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Université de Lille 2...

 at the Université de Lille 2, and the Jardin botanique Nicolas Boulay

Jardin botanique Nicolas Boulay

The Jardin botanique Nicolas Boulay is a botanical garden operated by the Faculty of Medicine at the Université Catholique de Lille, Lille, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France....

 at the Université Catholique de Lille

Université Catholique de Lille

Lille Catholic University is a private Catholic university located in Lille, France.-Institutional history:The university was founded in 1875...

.

The garden is designed as a pleasure park, with botanical plots containing more than 1,500 plants grouped by families; an orangery

Orangery

An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...

 (built in 1952) containing Mediterranean plants such as mimosa

Mimosa

Mimosa is a genus of about 400 species of herbs and shrubs, in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word μιμος , meaning "mimic."...

, oleander

Oleander

Nerium oleander is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, toxic in all its parts. It is the only species currently classified in the genus Nerium. It is most commonly known as oleander, from its superficial resemblance to the unrelated olive Olea, but has many other...

, and eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

; and a tropical greenhouse

Greenhouse

A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...

 (1,200 m², built in 1970) which rises to a height of eight meters and houses some 12,000 plants including banana

Banana

Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....

s, coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

, ginger

Ginger

Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....

, palm trees, tree ferns, pepper

Black pepper

Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...

, and frangipani. The garden also contains a rose

Rose

A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...

 garden, trees grouped by geographical origin, and a dahlia

Dahlia

Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, perennial plants native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. There are at least 36 species of dahlia, some like D. imperialis up to 10 metres tall. Dahlia hybrids are commonly grown as garden plants...

collection, as well as a large pond and the city's astronomical observatory.