A SPECIALLY commissioned cast-aluminium Tanglin Gate now welcomes visitors to the Botanic Gardens.Just beside the gate is a new $38-million visitor centre that won a Green Mark gold award this year for environment-friendly features.

Sansevieras, tiger orchids and russelias are among the hardy plants making up this green roof (above) at the visitor centre - Photo by: Andrew Tan

These include a planted green roof and wall of ferns. The building was also shaped to incorporate existing trees and protect their roots.

The pride of the centre, which is also meant to be a place of study, is its herbarium. This is a plant museum or library housing over 200 years' worth of data and plant specimens in a climate-controlled environment. It contains about 650,000 specimens, the oldest dating back to 1790.Supporting the herbarium is a reference library with over 30,000 volumes for research purposes (see note at end of story).

Most visitors will, however, be more interested in the public reference centre.

Here, you will find books, magazines and CD-Roms on plants, horticulture, landscaping and conservation. There is also a herbarium of common plants found in Singapore.

This self-help collection is aimed at students, budding gardeners, nature lovers and others who may be interested in knowing what these plants are called. For convenience, they are sorted according to habit, such as trees,climbers, ferns and palms.

Imprints, made using fallen leaves, decorate the otherwise plain concrete walkways - Photo by: Andrew Tan

A plant clinic is also available at the library to help those interested in learning more about their house plants and how to look after them.And for those wondering what happened to the cast-iron gates that used to stand at the main entrance, don't worry. They have not been turned into scrap. They will reappear as the new Bukit Timah Gate when the Botanic Gardens MRT station is operational in 2010.

But that is another story.

The Botanic Gardens public reference centre is open from Mondays to Fridays from 11am to 4pm and Saturdays from 9am to 1pm. Closed on Sundays and public holidays.

The centre welcomes donations of relevant books, magazines, CD-Roms and DVDs to its collection. Contact Christina Soh on 6471-9921 or christina_soh@nparks.gov.sg

Those wishing to use the reference library for research should contact Soh at the number/e-mail above.