Oasis abundant with scientific
interest
Cambridge & Great Eastern Regional Group: Cambridge University
Botanic Garden Tour
 The
beautiful landscaped gardens and glasshouses of the Cambridge
University Botanic Garden were the perfect venue for the SCI
Cambridge & Great Eastern Regional Group summer social event.
After a sultry day, the garden proved a refreshingly cool,
green refuge, full of scientific interest.
A peaceful 40-acre oasis in the heart of the
city, the garden has a collection of over 10 000 labelled
plant species and boasts many important national plant collections,
including lavenders, hardy geraniums and forsythias, and the
finest collection of trees in the east of England.
With a framework of mature trees and shrubs,
it comprises a range of diverse, landscaped settings including:
the rock garden, with alpine plants from every continent;
the lake and water garden, teeming with bird life; the tropical
rainforest; the alpine house and the historic ‘systematic
beds’, displaying 1600 hardy representatives of more
than 80 families of flowering plants.
The party was split into small groups for a
personal guided tour of the gardens. We were introduced to an
extraordinary variety of plants on the tour. One highlight was
the Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides). This
specimen of this ‘living fossil’, thought to have
been extinct for over five million years, was the first to be
planted in Britain after its chance discovery in a remote Chinese
village. It was recently judged to be one of the ‘Fifty
Great British Trees’.
After the tour, we adjourned to the fuschia courtyard for
a refreshing glass of wine, beneath the shade of a loquat
and a camphor tree. A delightful end to a unique event.
By Dr John Wilkins, CaGE Secretary
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