In the sub-humid tropical greenhouse we have created a savannah, a habitat where the dry season alternates with periods of intense rain.

The quintessential African savannah tree grown in this greenhouse is the baobab, which is legendary for its long life. The baobab trunk conceals an amazing secret; it’s nothing more than a giant water storage tank and for this reason it’s bottle shaped! Its beautiful, but smelly, white flowers are pollinated by bats and produce a fruit with a pulp rich in vitamins, minerals and amino acids. The leaves and bark are also important food sources.

Coffee is another plant typical of this habitat, that can be found in the greenhouse and is a particular favourite of ours here at the garden. Do you remember we mentioned Prospero Alpini, one of our first scientific directors? Alpini was the person who first brought coffee to Venice. Indeed, the Florian Café in Saint Mark’s Square is the oldest coffee shop in Italy and perhaps in the world.

Coffee is a red fruit that develops from white flowers, and contains two seeds. When roasted, those two seeds are what we use to perk ourselves up in the morning.

In the aquatic plant tank you can observe the results of ingenious floating strategies. The leaves may have petioles so swollen with air that they look like buoys, as is the case of the water hyacinth. In the lower part, the water lettuce has a thick pelt of water-repellent hairs that form an air cushion. Instead, Victoria cruziana manages with a waxy coating. Found in ponds in spring and summer, it has huge leaves with quills in the part in contact with the water, which defend it from herbivorous animals. It also has ribs radiating from the centre that contain tubules filled with air, which allow it to float. The edges are raised in a bowl shape so that leaves can touch without overlapping! Try and imagine the pond in which they grow as a bumper car circuit dedicated to a slow clash of leaves.