Bambouseraie de Prafrance

The Bambouseraie de Prafrance (34 hectares, 84 acres) is a private botanical garden specializing in bamboos, located in Générargues, near Anduze, Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon, France. It is open daily in the warmer months; an admission fee is charged. The garden contains one of Europe's oldest bamboo collections, established in 1856 by amateur botanist Eugène Mazel (1828-1890), who had made his fortune in the spice trade, and who continued to build the collection until he encountered financial problems in 1890. Although the garden subsequently changed ownership several times, it has continued to be a showcase for bamboos, and today contains around 300 bamboo species and cultivars, as well as other plantings of Asiatic shrubs and trees, Ginkgo biloba, sequoia, Trachycarpus fortunei, a replica of a Laotian village, and some 5 km of water canals.