National Botanic Gardens, Dublin
There is one place in Ireland where I enjoy visiting to spend some quiet and peaceful moments.
This place also happens to reflect Africa in a very particular way, and where the Story of Africa is told through its plants. It is also a place I consider to be my 'African Paradise in Ireland'.
This place is the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin.
My visit would usually begin / start in the central part of the Curvilinear Range glasshouse on the eastern side of the Garden where, perhaps the, arguably, most important plant to have made its way into human social life, can be found. I am, of course, referring to the coffee plant.
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The Coffee Plant in the
National Botanic Gardens, Dublin
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Next to the coffee plant is another plant associated with a hot beverage, the tea plant. There are a few other plants, including the avocado, in the Curvilinear Range glasshouse which I associate with growing up in West Africa; I hope to say a bit more about these plants in subsequent instalments of my African Plant Tales from the Botanic Gardens.
The next stop during my visit is the Great Palm House. This is also the place where I experience a real tropical feeling - in the air I breathe and the feeling of the moisture on my skin.
As the name suggests, the palm tree is one of the main plants to be seen here: the oil palm and the coconut palm. Another coffee plant can be seen here.
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| Green and Red Berries on a Coffee Plant |
One significant plant in the Great Palm House is the bamboo; a plant which also deserves a whole story to itself to be narrated at a later date. For the moment, let us just remark that the bamboo belongs to the grass family. A mention of the banana would be made before leaving the Great Palm House.
On one adjoining side of the Great Palm House is the Cactus and Succulent glasshouse. Here, one would see plants such as varieties of the cactus family which I would have come in contact with in parts of West Africa.
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The National Botanic Gardens'
Information on Coffee
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My visit would be rounded off with some moments for reflection in the café which is located in the Visitor Centre, and where the friendly staff are always on hand to serve me, well, coffee; no doubt, perhaps Coffea Arabica from Ethiopia?
Indeed, after a visit to the National Botanic Gardens, and a homage to the coffee plant, one would look at the next cup of coffee in a completely new light, and even consider the taste of that cup of coffee as a totally new experience.
National Botanic Gardens
Glasnevin
Dublin 9
Ireland.
Telephone No: + 353 1 804 03 19 / 857 09 09 (Visitor Centre)
Fax No: + 353 1 836 00 80
Website http://www.botanicgardens.ie
