Lancetilla Botanical Garden is a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe 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, an ...

and significant tourist attraction located on the coast of the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

, in the north of the

Republic of Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean ...

, about 7 km southeast of the city of

Tela Tela is a town, with a population of 38,030 (2020 calculation), and a municipality in Honduras on the northern Caribbean coast. It is located in the department of Atlantida. History Colonial era Tela was founded by the Spanish conquistador ...

History

The Lancetilla Botanical Garden or more appropriately Lancetilla Botanical Garden and Research CenterLancetilla Botanic Garden & Research Center
BGCI was for a long time the only botanical garden in Honduras (until the UNAH botanical garden was opened in 2005) and one of the largest in Latin America. The Botanical Garden is a department of the National School of Forest Sciences (ESNACIFOR). The botanical garden is part of the BGCI and presents works for the International Agenda for Conservation in Botanical Gardens. Its international recognition code as a botanical institution, as well as its herbarium acronym is LANCE.

Garden Collection

It has an extension of 1681 hectares, of which 1261 ha are from a Nature reserve, 350 are from plantations and 70 ha correspond to an Arboretum. The collection includes about 1500 species focused mainly on tropical plants with fruits. * Arboretum with an extension of 70 hectares, and with more than 1,500 species, mainly fruit trees and timber trees from tropical areas around the world. * A virgin forest of the Nature Reserve, with about 1,200 hectares, in the Río Lancetilla basin, south of the plantations, which has been protected and continues to be conserved, as it is the source of water supply for the city of Tela. * The experimental plantations, with an extension of 350 hectares. In the 1930s, hundreds of hectares of plantations began planting mostly Mahogany ('' Swietenia macrophylla''), Teca (''

Tectona grandis Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

''), White teak ''(

Gmelina arborea ''Gmelina arborea'', (in English beechwood, gmelina, goomar teak, Kashmir tree, Malay beechwood, white teak, yamane ), locally known as gamhar, is a fast-growing deciduous tree in the family Lamiaceae. Distribution and habitat ''Gmelina arbore ...

)'', ''

'', in areas near Tela. The last remains of these plantations with about 100 hectares exist in the botanical garden and are currently used as seed trees. * Collection of

bananas A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

being one of the richest and most diverse in the world * Collection of fruit trees from Asia with a total of 636

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

from 392 Genera and 107 families. Such as ''

Garcinia mangostana Mangosteen (''Garcinia mangostana''), also known as the purple mangosteen, is a tropical evergreen tree with edible fruit native to tropical lands surrounding the Indian Ocean. Its origin is uncertain due to widespread prehistoric cultivation. ...

'' (

mangosteen Mangosteen (''Garcinia mangostana''), also known as the purple mangosteen, is a tropical evergreen tree with edible fruit native to tropical lands surrounding the Indian Ocean. Its origin is uncertain due to widespread prehistoric cultivation. ...

), '' Lecythis elliptica '' and '' Lecythis pisonis'' ( sapucaia), ''

Terminalia arjuna ''Terminalia arjuna'' is a tree of the genus '' Terminalia''. It is commonly known as arjuna or arjun tree in English. Description ''T. arjuna'' grows to about 20–25 metres tall; usually has a buttressed trunk, and forms a wide canopy at t ...

'' ( arjuna),

Citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

species, '' Pimenta acris'', '' Canarium ovatum'' (

pili nut ''Canarium ovatum'', the pili (Central Bikol and Filipino: ''pili'', ;), is a species of tropical tree belonging to the genus ''Canarium''. It is one of approximately 600 species in the family Burseraceae. ''C. ovatum'' are native to the P ...

), ''

Theobroma cacao ''Theobroma cacao'', also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. The largest pr ...

'' (

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

), '' Nephrelium mutabile'' (

pulasan ''Nephelium ramboutan-ake'', the pulasan, is a tropical fruit in the soapberry family Sapindaceae. It is closely related to the rambutan and sometimes confused with it. Other related soapberry family fruits include lychee and longan. Usually ...

), ''

Litchi chinensis Lychee (US: ; UK: ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the soapberry family, ''Sapindaceae''. It is a tropical tree native to Southeast and Southwest China (the Guangdong, Fujian, Yun ...

'' ( lychees), ''

Eucalyptus deglupta ''Eucalyptus deglupta'' is a species of tall tree, commonly known as the rainbow eucalyptus, Mindanao gum, or rainbow gum that is native to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. It is the only ''Eucalyptus'' species that usually liv ...

'', ''

Khaya ivorensis ''Khaya ivorensis'', also called African mahogany or Lagos mahogany, is a tall forest tree with a buttressed trunk in the family Meliaceae. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria where it grows primar ...

'', ''

Nephelium lappaceum Rambutan (; taxonomic name: ''Nephelium lappaceum'') is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae. The name also refers to the edible fruit produced by this tree. The rambutan is native to Southeast Asia. It is closely related to se ...

'' (

rambutan Rambutan (; taxonomic name: ''Nephelium lappaceum'') is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae. The name also refers to the edible fruit produced by this tree. The rambutan is native to Southeast Asia. It is closely related to s ...

)'',

Mangifera indica ''Mangifera indica'', commonly known as mango, is a species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is a large fruit tree, capable of growing to a height of . There are two distinct genetic populations in modern mangoesthe "Indian ty ...

'' ( mango), ''

Myristica fragrans ''Myristica fragrans'' is an evergreen tree indigenous to the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It is important as the main source of the spices nutmeg and mace. It is widely grown across the tropics including Guangdong and Yunnan in China, Taiwan, ...

'' (

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

), '' Eugenia dombeyi'' ( grumichama), '' Myrciaria cauliflora'' (

jabuticaba Jabuticaba is the edible fruit of the jabuticabeira (''Plinia cauliflora'') or Brazilian grapetree. The purplish-black, white-pulped fruit grows directly on the trunk of the tree. It is eaten raw or used to make jellies, jams, juice or wine. Th ...

), '' Cybistax donnell-smithii'' also known as Duranga (Mexico), San Juan (Honduras), Palo blanco (Guatemala), Cortez, Cortez blanco (El Salvador). * Collection of Palms with ''

Elaeis guineensis ''Elaeis guineensis'' is a species of palm commonly just called oil palm but also sometimes African oil palm or macaw-fat. It is the principal source of palm oil. It is native to west and southwest Africa, specifically the area between Angola a ...

'' (

African oil palm ''Elaeis guineensis'' is a species of palm commonly just called oil palm but also sometimes African oil palm or macaw-fat. It is the principal source of palm oil. It is native to west and southwest Africa, specifically the area between Angola a ...

), ''

Roystonea regia ''Roystonea regia'', commonly known as the Cuban royal palm or Florida royal palm, is a species of palm that is native to Mexico, parts of Central America and the Caribbean, and southern Florida. A large and attractive palm, it has been planted ...

'' (

royal palm ''Roystonea regia'', commonly known as the Cuban royal palm or Florida royal palm, is a species of palm that is native to Mexico, parts of Central America and the Caribbean, and southern Florida. A large and attractive palm, it has been planted ...

). *

Orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

collection, *

Bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

collection, * 200 hectares of plantations are used for different studies by the "National School of Forest Sciences". Atlas Obscura
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Facilities

Several administrative and research buildings mostly preserve architectural style of the 1930s and

1940s File:1940s decade montage.png, Above title bar: events during World War II (1939–1945): From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching Omaha Beach on D-Day; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Ho ...

, when the Garden was owned by the banana company

United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 fro ...

. Herbarium with specimens from all over the area is located here. There is also a cafeteria with restaurant and accommodation for up to 30 people.

References

Parks in Honduras Botanical gardens in Honduras Gardens in Honduras {{Honduras-geo-stub

History

Garden Collection

Facilities

See also

References