Jardín Botánico

Botanical Garden was created by Royal Order of King Carlos III in 1788, due to the need to cultivate species from the tropics somewhere in Spain with a suitable climate. The intervention of Alonso de Nava y Grimón, VI Marquis de Villanueva del Prado was essential both in the decision making and also to establish and develop the gardens in the early stages. In 1790, the plans and memo were drawn up and work starts on the plans drawn by Nicolás Eduardo, architect from La Laguna. In 1792, 35 new plantations are started. French naturalist Ledrú, who visited Tenerife in the late 17th century, was the first to catalogue the species grown in the Garden. He proposed a systematic organisation of the collections based on the Linnean classification of 1753. The Garden has major collections of tropical and sub-tropical plants, with special emphasis on varieties of palms such as Bromeliacea, Araceas and Moracea. There are many plants and trees that are interesting because of their beauty, size, age, rarity or remote place of origin. As a scientific institution, the Garden has a herb collection specialising in native Canary flora, with more than 30000 specimens and develops research programmes on the flora and vegetation of the Canary Islands and the conservation of endemic species. ​​