Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden

1660

A hedge planted in 1660 still grows in the garden

In 1660, on the order of Jan van Riebeeck, a hedge of wild almond and brambles was planted to protect the edge of the Dutch Cape Colony. Sections of Van Riebeeck's Hedge still exist at Kirstenbosch and are a Provincial Heritage Site. The name Kirsten is believed to come from J.F. Kirsten, who managed the land in the 18th century. Bosch is a Dutch word for forest or bush.

1895

The land was run down when Cecil Rhodes bought it in 1895

The land was bought by Cecil Rhodes in 1895, and after that the area became run down, with groups of pigs feeding on the acorns and wallowing in the pools. Camphor Avenue was planted in 1898. Rhodes died in 1902 and bequeathed the land that the gardens now occupy to the nation.

1913

It was the first botanical garden for a country's own plants

On 1 July 1913 the area was set aside as a botanical garden by the government of the colony. The garden was founded to preserve the flora native to South Africa, and it was the first botanical garden in the world with this aim. No money was set aside for a salaried director, so the botanist Henry Harold Pearson accepted the post without pay and lived in the gardens.

The epitaph

Its first director was buried in the garden he made

Pearson started work in an area known as The Dell, planting cycads that can still be seen today. He died in 1916 of pneumonia and was buried in his beloved garden. His epitaph is still there: "If ye seek his monument, look around".

Today

A quarter of a million dried plants are kept in its herbarium

The garden lies at the eastern foot of Table Mountain and is one of 10 National Botanical Gardens in South Africa. It stresses the growing of indigenous plants, and outdoors it is known for its collections of proteas. Its Compton Herbarium keeps roughly 250,000 dried specimens, mainly of plants of the winter rainfall region.

250,000dried plant specimens kept in the Compton Herbarium