Jardin des Plantes

Considered France's principle botanical garden, the Jardin des Plantes was established in the 17th century under the reign of Louis XIII. What began as an herb garden now includes different species from all over the world. Travelers even visited countries around the globe and brought back seeds to enhance the Paris collection. Among the specimens are an American sequoia and a laricio pine from Corsica. The garden also contains Paris's oldest tree, an acacia brought back from America in the early 1600s. In the 17th c. much focus was put into planting species with therapeutic properties and in the 18th c. it was a place of botanical/natural medicinal research. Also on the site are the Ménagerie zoo and the natural history museum. METRO: Place Monge or Gare d'Austerlitz