tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural ...
located in
Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
since 1939. The gardens contain over of botanical plantings along with bird and animal shows. It is open to the public for a per-use ticket fee, as well as offering yearly membership passes for those wishing to visit frequently.
History
In the 1920s, the site was a swampy banana grove listed in city records as "an impenetrable swamp." In the early 1930s, David Breed Lindsay, a local newspaperman, purchased the grove to create a botanical gardens. Beginning in 1936, admission fees were charged and in 1940, Jungle Gardens opened for business in essentially its current form. In the early 1970s, Jungle Gardens was sold to the philanthropic Allyn family, who continue to manage it.
Features
The biggest attraction at the park is the free-roaming flamingos. Guests may hand feed and walk among them. There are also other opportunities for up close interactive experiences with reptiles, parrots, butterflies and other mammals. The gardens serves to inspire and educate thousands of local and international visitors each year and offer daily entertaining and educational shows. There is a cafe and gift shop on site. The gardens includes native species and exotic plants from around the world, such as the Australian nut tree, a bunya-bunya tree, the largest Norfolk Island pine in Florida,
bulrush
Bulrush is a vernacular name for several large wetland grass-like plants
*Sedge family (Cyperaceae):
**''Cyperus''
**'' Scirpus''
**''Blysmus''
**''Bolboschoenus''
**'' Scirpoides''
**'' Isolepis''
**'' Schoenoplectus''
**'' Trichophorum''
* T ...
, strangler figs,
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 ...
s, selloum, banana trees, Peruvian apple cactus, and staghorn ferns, as well as native red maples, oaks and bald cypress.