Living Fossils
Cycads, ginkgo, and conifers make seeds but never flowers, and their seeds sit bare, not wrapped in a fruit. Their families were already old when dinosaurs lived.
Cycas
Cycas revoluta
A cycad, one of an ancient group of plants that lived alongside the dinosaurs. Its stout trunk and crown of stiff, feathery leaves often get it mistaken for a palm.
Ginkgo
Ginkgo biloba
The only living species left in its whole ancient division: no other living plant is closely related to it. Its fan-shaped leaves are unlike any other tree’s.
Long Leaf Pine
सल्लो
Pinus palustris
A conifer: an evergreen with needle-like leaves and woody cones instead of flowers. Its seeds sit bare on the cone scales, not wrapped in a fruit.
Chinese Arborvitae
Platycladus orientalis
A conifer whose tiny, scale-like leaves grow in flat, upright sprays, like the pages of a book standing on end.
Buddhist Pine
Podocarpus macrophyllus
A conifer, but not a pine: it has flat, strap-shaped leaves instead of needles, and each seed sits on a fleshy, berry-like stalk.
Thuja
थुज धुपी
Thuja sp.
A conifer with flat sprays of scale-like leaves and small cones that open like tiny wooden flowers. Crushed, the foliage has a strong resin scent.
More in The Plant Family Tree
The garden is alive and changes through the year. Some plants flower, fruit, or rest only in certain seasons, so what you see depends on when you visit.
See them for yourself
Every plant here grows on our campus in Bhaktapur. Walk the garden on your visit.
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