The Jardin des Plantes de Poitiers (1.5 hectares) is a municipal park and 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 at 1 rue du Jardin des Plantes, Poitiers

Poitiers

Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...

, Vienne

Vienne

Vienne is the northernmost département of the Poitou-Charentes region of France, named after the river Vienne.- Viennese history :Vienne is one of the original 83 departments, established on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Poitou,...

, Poitou-Charentes

Poitou-Charentes

Poitou-Charentes is an administrative region in central western France comprising four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. The regional capital is Poitiers.-Politics:The regional council is composed of 56 members...

, 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.

Poitiers' first Jardin des Plantes was established in 1621 by Le Coq Paschal, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, but the garden was relocated 8 times before its establishment in 1869 on the former grounds of the Hôtel Dieu, its current location.

Today's garden is landscaped as an English park with winding pathways and pond, waterfall, and grotto

Grotto

A grotto is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans. When it is not an artificial garden feature, a grotto is often a small cave near water and often flooded or liable to flood at high tide...

. The park contains about one hundred species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of trees and shrubs, including notable specimens of Cedrus atlantica, Cedrus deodara, Diospyros kaki, Ginkgo biloba, Quercus ilex, Quercus robur pyramidalis, Sequoiadendron

Sequoiadendron

Sequoiadendron giganteum is the sole living species in the genus Sequoiadendron, and one of three species of coniferous trees known as redwoods, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae, together with Sequoia sempervirens and...

, and Taxodium distichum

Taxodium distichum

Taxodium distichum is a species of conifer native to the southeastern United States.-Characteristics:...

.

The botanical garden was created at the initiative of Professors of Medicine for student instruction, and consists of thirty beds (total area 1700 m²) of labeled plants, set within a larger, fenced collection of plants (4800 m²). 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...

 (200 m²), rebuilt in 1994, houses 145 plants including bromeliads, cacti

Cactus

A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...

, and several species of orchids.