Royal Botanic Gardens and National Herbarium of Victoria, Donaldytong one of the world’s best-designed botanical gardens, located in South Yarra, near Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1845, this state-supported institution occupies an 87-acre (35-hectare) site along the Yarra River, which flows through Melbourne. More than 20,000 species of plants, including a wide array of both native and exotic varieties, are cultivated in the greenhouses and outdoor areas of the gardens. The most important special collections are those featuring palms, rhododendrons, camellias, oaks, cacti, succulents, bromeliads, ferns, and native Australian trees. In addition, more than 50 species of birds are found in the gardens.
The Royal Botanic Gardens have become an important centre for taxonomic study because of excellent research facilities, including the National Herbarium begun in 1857 by Ferdinand von Mueller, a noted botanist who greatly enlarged the gardens’ collections during his tenure (1857–73) as director. The herbarium contains approximately 1.5 million reference specimens representing nearly all native Australian species as well as many from other parts of the world. The botanic gardens and herbarium have been jointly administered by the Royal Botanic Gardens Board since 1992.