I was at Java this week for a visit to a golf course near Bogor and I had a chance to spend a morning at the Bogor Botanical Gardens (or kebun raya in Indonesian). These gardens, which opened nearly 200 years ago, cover 87 hectares and it would require much more time than the brief visit I made to cover the expansive grounds. I saw large Sumatran pines (the only Pinaceae naturally-occurring south of the equator) and broad lawns of close-cropped Axonopus compressus. There are over 15,000 species of tropical plants at the gardens including thousands of orchid varieties. I made a close inspection of the lawns in particular as I wanted to know what species of grass would be found.
The large trees at the garden were especially impressive, as was the quiet orchidarium.