UAS garden gets 'lead' status

 
 Only one garden from each State is conferred this rank with a sanction of Rs 52.44 lakh from the Central government.

The grant will continue for the next 15 years. The 67-acre garden in the GKVK campus, currently exhibits 820 species of plants. M D Rajanna, professor of Botany at the UAS, says, "We have been conserving rare and endangered species of plants that are found in Karnataka."  He told reporters that even endangered plant species from Western Ghat- which amounts to nearly 1,350 species would be conserved. "We will also have a collection of arcadium, fernerium and a small conservatory," he said. This year, the garden will get nearly 150 new species against 120 species last year.

Rajanna said the University will also be getting Victoria Amazonica - a giant water lily with leaves so sturdy that it can withstand a person weighing 35 kilos. Apart from the UAS botanical garden, the species is grown only in Kolkata Botanical Garden and Kerala. The garden has also digitized the database of its collection, said Rajanna. Though, the  garden was set up 20 years ago, it was developed only a few years back.