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a Botanist's Dream Come True
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Story : Jakkapan Kangwan
Photos : Photography staff |
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To your average botanic-illiterate person, the names Cyrtostochys renda, Bauhinia aureifolia, Kerriodoxa elegans and Equisetum diffusum are as familiar as calculus is to a goldfish. Of course, a botanist would tell you that these names represent indigenous - some hard to find, some near extinct - plants and vegetation that can be found all over Thailand. If you happened to be interested in personally viewing a collection of Thailand's
plant-life and vegetation in one convenient location, that same botanist would direct you to the only place that that was possible - Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden. |
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Located in Mae Rim County, Chiang Mai Province, the Botanical Garden is situated on roughly 6,000 rai of the Doi Suthep - Pui Mountain Range. In addition to the numerous glass buildings that house various plant species, the Botanical Garden also comprises an academic center, a plant observatory, a nature museum (to be completed within two years' time), a research building and a route along which to observe and study nature. The Botanical
Garden is the first of its kind in Thailand, and cannot be passed up by anyone vaguely interested in or affiliated with nature studies. |
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"At this moment, we have over 10,000 plant specimen in the fire-proof, metal cabinets... and we have enough cabinets to keep up to 300,000 specimen. We are also equipped to keep dry plant varieties for 10 more years. This is what you call a large database. For botanists, doctors, pharmacists, even those who work in agriculture, if information on plant-life and vegetation is needed, they could definitely find it here." (Dr.
Veerachai Na Nakorn, Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden) |
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