A unique opportunity to see the threatened and endemic plants of Karnataka, India and exotics from Europe, America and Africa awaits people of Bengaluru at the scientific Botanical Garden - among the 10 leading Botanical gardens of India -inside the sprawling lush green campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences.

It is called scientific garden because it is laid scientifically as per Bentham and Hooker's system for easy identification of plants for visitors, taxonomic enthusiasts and students.

Critically endangered Vateriaindica or Indian copal tree locally known as Saaludoopa in Kannada found in evergreen forests of Western Ghats; rare herb Impatiens raziana or Razi's balsam found on the grassy slopes of Western Ghats in Karnataka; endangered tree Hopeaponga or Doddele Bogi found especially along river banks of evergreen or semi-evergreen forests of Western Ghats;vulnerable evergreen tree Elaeocarpusmunroii or Munron's Elaeocarpus or Kalbikki, found along the margin of medium-high altitude evergreen and shoal forests, and numerous other trees and shrubs are being conserved for posterity at the garden.

Bengaluru's proximity to the Western Ghats, one of the 35 biodiversity hotspots in the world, makes it an ideal place for setting up the garden at the UAS, GKVK (Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra). With the help of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and through the relentless efforts of a team of scientists led by Dr MD Rajanna, the botanical garden has been instrumental in conserving about 33 threatened and endemic species found in the Western Ghats.

Established in 1971 as a model to facilitate collection, multiplication and conservation of plant species besides teaching and research needs, the garden, spread across 65 acres of land, was accorded the 'Lead Garden' status by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The garden's well maintained herbarium - 'UASB' - houses collections from various parts of Karnataka, India and some exotic species from America, Europe and Africa. Collections from Indian and European botanists dating back to 1897 have been preserved and maintained at the herbarium.

Nestled amid the green surroundings with a lily pond, the UAS Lead Botanical Garden supports an array of plants with focus being on Angiosperms. "The garden has been divided into 10 parts (see box).The plant species are being planted as per the taxonomic classification (Bentham and Hooker's system). This helps in easy identification of plants," says Dr Rajanna, recalling how he had gone all the way to Kolkata Botanical Garden to collect a rare species of Giant lily (Victoria Amazonica) and took an evening flight to ensure that it was planted in the garden's pond during sunset to ensure its acclimatisation in the city's environment.

"There are about 700 species of live plants in the garden. All the plants are mapped with GPS and labelled with botanical names, the respective families they belong to and their Kannada names too. The garden also has a greenhouse for multiplication of threatened species, an Orchidarium, shade houses, a ginger and balsam house and a nursery for the propagation of wild species and agro forestry species of Karnataka," say Dr Rajanna, Dr A N Sringeswara, Dr G Nagaraja and Mr Imran Baig, writing in a handbook on Threatened and Endemic Plants of Western Ghats.