The Palmetum, Tenerife

Tenerife, Travel, ,

Feb 17 – There is a special botanical garden here in Santa Cruz, called the Palmetum. At the edge of the city, it was once the municipal rubbish dump, a huge mountain of smelly decay. In the 1980s the dump was closed, and in the 1990s the conversion began.

Terraforming, nurturing seeds and importing species of palm trees from all over the world took an additional twenty years, and the park was opened to the public in 2014. We are going to visit it today.

We took a bus across town, then walked to the outskirts. We climbs up several stories to get to the entrance of the Palmetum.

Climbing the steps to the entrance, we can see the modern arena / opera house nearby.
I am an admirer of variegated leaves
Didn’t know cacti were considered palms
Interesting roots
The park is divided into geographic zones, displaying specimens from Madagascar in one area, and the Caribbean in another
Each specimen has a plaque that names the palm and shows a map of where it is from
The Atlantic is in view throughout most of the park
Odd hollow berries or fruits
Don’t try to climb this one!
Back on ground level for the walk home – another lovely day!

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