Palace Garden
Ancient trees, fascinating plant communities and rare plants and trees such as the bizarre dwarf beech (Fagus sylvatica var. Suentelensis) can all be seen out in the open. One particular peculiar plant is a female ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), planted around 1870, that has had male branches grafted onto it.
Breathing through its knees
Several large, old swamp cypresses (Taxodium distichum) stand besides the Melb pond. They were grown from seeds that U.S. botanist William Chambers Coker brought with him to Bonn from his homeland in 1901.
The swamp cypress is a conifer that, unlike many of its relatives, drops its needles in winter.
Its extensive roots form projections that vertically grow upward. Concentrated right by the pond shore, these “knees” keep the roots supplied with enough oxygen even if the tree itself is submerged in a swamp.
Record-breaking trees
Some of the wonderful old trees in the Schlossgarten are the biggest examples of their species in Germany and have been crowned “Champion Trees” for their record-breaking achievements.
A forest fit for the dinosaurs
This area is home to plants and trees that already existed at the time of the dinosaurs. Ginkgo biloba is the last remaining member of the once-extensive ginkgo family of trees.
Taxonomy
The Systematic beds display the taxonomy. This living botany textbook shows the relationships between the various flowering plants.
Habitat Section
The most important plant communities native to the Bonn region (within a radius of some 100 km) can be found in the Habitat Section.
