Tropical greenhouses of the Jardin des plantes de Caen

The Jardin des plantes de Caen is one of the oldest botanical gardens in France: its first plants are said to have been gathered in 1689, and its first catalogue dates from 1781. Greenhouses were added in the nineteenth century. Sources disagree about the beginnings: according to French Wikipedia a small house was built in 1849 and two large wooden houses in 1850, whereas the English version and the City of Caen's website mention two large greenhouses built in 1860, with an orangery with an upper floor. In 1880 a group of seven iron houses able to hold exotic plants replaced the ageing small house; the hot house was rebuilt in iron in 1894 and the temperate house in 1901, and a botanical institute was built in 1891.

The bombing of 1944 destroyed both winter gardens and the orangery, together with all the rare species they held. From 1947 the director Louis Bouket, with municipal support, set about rebuilding the garden and its collections. New exhibition houses for exotic plants were built in 1988 near the entrance, in place of the chapel-greenhouses of 1880. The garden site, protected since 1942, has been recognised as a French botanical garden since 1997 according to Wikipedia. A small neighbouring house recalls the work of the botanist Noël Bernard on the symbiosis between orchids and fungi.

The sources consulted mainly describe the evolution of materials, as no plans or architect's name are given. The first greenhouses of the mid-nineteenth century were of wood. At the end of the century they were replaced by a group of iron houses, called "chapel-greenhouses" in one description: seven juxtaposed units in 1880, then a hot house rebuilt in iron in 1894 and a temperate house remade the same way in 1901. The documents read give neither the dimensions nor the exact form of these buildings.

The present group, built in 1988 near the garden entrance, comprises hot, temperate and cold houses according to one presentation, to hold tropical and exotic plants. None of the sources read gives the architect, floor area or exact materials of this modern complex, so they are omitted. A figure of 5,000 m² that circulates refers to the whole garden according to the English encyclopedia, not to the greenhouses alone.

The exhibition houses shelter about 1,500 exotic species, in a garden that holds more than 8,000 in all. Visitors see giant water lilies, bananas, coffee, vanilla, camphor trees, cycads, citrus, orchids, cacti and carnivorous plants. Orchids carry particular resonance in Caen, where the botanist Noël Bernard demonstrated the symbiosis between orchids and fungi, in a small neighbouring greenhouse according to the City's website.

The garden also preserves remarkable large trees, among them a Japanese pagoda tree planted in 1750, a giant sequoia of 1890 and a Japanese cedar of 1870, according to the English encyclopedia. The sources read do not single out specific specimens inside the greenhouses themselves.

The Jardin des plantes de Caen is the botanical garden of the City and the university. Its tropical houses are open only at certain afternoon times, which should be checked with the City's gardens service before travelling. The route through the houses continues naturally into the garden's paths, with their old trees and outdoor collections.

The site has been protected since 1942. The small neighbouring greenhouse where Noël Bernard worked on orchids, mentioned on the City's website, is worth including to gauge the garden's part in botanical research.