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Tropical Greenhouse

The tropical greenhouse of the Botanic Garden hosts epiphytic plants (above all bromeliads and orchids) and plants of significant economic interest, be they food plants, spice, ornamental or medicinal plants.

The epiphytic collection is particularly varied. The epiphytes are herbaceous and shrubby plants that settle, from the germination, on the tree tops, to ensure an environment of growth without competition and more favorable development conditions than those that they would have had on the ground. Trees serve exclusively as support, and can be replaced by rocks, roofs and even telephone wires; in this greenhouse they are grown on pine bark or cork.

Particularly interesting, as they are very well known for their name but generally not for their "natural appearance", papaya, coffee, mango, date palm, vanilla or cocoa among the food plants; lesser known, but equally interesting, the Neem tree or the soap tree. Well known, even if in the greenhouse they often reach larger dimensions, are the numerous species used as "houseplants", for example the dragon trees (such as Dracaena fragrans, the well-known "log of happiness", the philodendrons, the ficus). Tropical ferns are also present.