Joseph-Gottlieb Kölreuter Institute for Plant Sciences

 

April-September Mo-Fr 8-16, So 10-16, October-March Mo-Fr 8-15, So 10-14, entrance free! How to find us

 

 

 

WHY THE KIT NEEDS AN EXPERIMENTAL STATION - OUR PROFILE

 

 

 

 

 

 

News

 

EXHIBITION ON MEDICINAL PLANTS - TILL MARCH

 

 

Following Guru Rinpoche - Botanic-cultural excursions in Bhutan

Seminar by Dr. Heiko Hentrich. 24. March 2024, 17:00-18:45. Quartier Zukunft

 

PLANT RESEARCH AS SALVAGE - Exhibition on Carl Christian Gmelin

  • The Cradle of Bioeconomy is in Karlsruhe. Opening event of the exbhition on Carl Christian Gmelin 23. Juni 2023, 15:00, KIT-Bibliothek Süd, 3. OG Neubau, Vortragssaal.

Climate change has reached public attention as well as the need to render economy more sustainable. Plants are crucial for this so-called Bioeconomy and the KIT is very active here. However, few know that this topic was already addressed in Karlsruhe prior to the foundations of the university. Carl Christian Gmelin (1762-1837) was not ounly founding the Natural History Museum and directing the Botanical Gardens in Karlsruhe, but collected in his book "Nothhülfe gegen Mangel aus Mißwachs, ein botanischer Ratgeber" (First Aid against Poverty due to Misharvest, a Botanical Guide) published in 1817 numerous innovative ideas, how novel use of regional wild plants can help to cope with the consequences of climatic challenges. Reason was the "year without summer" in 1816, when, due to a gigantic volcanic erruption in Indonesia, Europe suffered from gigantic misharvests. Many of the ideas proposed by Gmelin are currently re-addressed. Josef Franz from the Association Botanischer Garten am KIT e.V. has, together with the Joseph Gottlieb Kölreuter Institute for Plant Sciences, the KIT Archive, and State Natural History Museum uncovered exciting finds that do not only highlight the botanic, but also the societal aspects of climate change, such as poverty and migration, projecting the experiences from the early 19th century directly into our times. More...

 

Virtual Garden. We have developed during the Corona time several virtual offers that are still available:

 

And here you can reach the PAGES OF THE GARDEN ASSOCIATIONS.

Plant of the Month: Melonen Tree (Papaya)

March: In the Waterlily House you can find our Papaya couple, a male and a female tree - one of the few cases of so-called diecy. There exist also hermaphroditic forms that can set fruits even if they are living as singles. Also in other sites of the garden you can find Papaya, for instance the Baby Papaya, a dwarf form able to bear fruits already from childhood on. The stem-born flowers develop into huge, honey-yellow, inside often orange fruits that taste sweet like melons, which is the reason, why the Papaya is also known as Melon Tree. There is a second, hidden side, though. Inside, you will find the black seeds that are spicy and remind of Horseradish. This is not as unexpected as it may seem. The Papaya, despite its melon disguise, is related to our cales, a further cousin would be the Moringa Tree.

more...

What to see?

 

Tropenhaus: Schneckensamen (Bild) . Ohrenpfeffer . Galgant blüht .

Seerosenhaus: Papaya . Wasserbanane . Luffa-Gurke .

Freiland: Urweltmammutbaum . Frühblüher .

Sukkulentenhaus:  Aloe . Guave fruchtet . Tamarillo fruchtet .

Eingangsbereich: Riesenosterluzei blüht . Große Kannenpflanze . Urfarn Psilotum .

Palmenhaus: Baum der Reisenden . Balsabaum . Carludovica blüht .

 

 

 

Fascinating Plants

Pflanzen sind voller Geheimnisse und helfen uns, die Welt mit neuen Augen zu sehen. Überraschende Blickwinkel auf den Flickr-Seiten von Maren Riemann.