Medicinal plants are one of the greatest treasures of our country. The first step for the conservation and sustainable use of this wealth is well knowing it.

The Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research has established an ex situ collection of medicinal and essential oil plants which is maintained and updated with new species every year. The collection includes rare and endangered species such as Mursala tea, marsh snowdrops, haberlea rhodopensis, alkanna tinctoria, elecampane, shrubby cinquefoil and others.

Cacao fruit

An exposition of medicinal and nutritious tropical plants is also arranged in the greenhouses of the Botanical Garden of BAS. Among them there are flowering cocoa, medicinal aloe and many others. During the month of June, when according to the folk calendar we celebrate Midsummer’s Day, many outdoor herbs can also be seen in the garden, such as various types of galium, St. John’s wort, yarrow, chamomile, etc.

In the coming summer season, visitors to the Botanical Garden can see and smell the fragrance of different types of roses, developing and flowering trees, shrubs and flowers. In the greenhouses one can observe the diverse life forms of succulent plants from the arid regions of the Earth, as well as the fanciful flowers of orchids.