Menglun Tropical Botanic Garden is located in an island called Calabash Island. The silver-belt-like Luosuo River (a tributary of Lancang/Mekong River) surrounds the three sides of the island and only a narrow path connects it with the high Cuiping Peak. The environment here is so beautiful with mountain and river around it that it is praised as "the Emerald on the Crown of the Kingdom of Plants.
The Tropical Plants Research Institute was founded in 1959 by dedicated scientists headed by Professor Cai Xitao, a famous botanist. It takes up 860 hectares of land. There are more than 3,000 species of tropical and subtropical plants both at home and from abroad growing here.
In the Garden, ther are many strange and rare flowers and plants in the garden. The single"big banyan" can make a forest. The Upas Tree (Antiarias Tocicaria) produces a lethal poison used on the arrow. The "black-heart" tree can never be cut death when you cut its top, the more branches will grow out. The "glutinous-rice-smelling bamboo" is used to cook rice by the Dai people. The "clock flower" blossoms when the sun rises and closes when the sun sets. The "big root" is like a concrete wall. "The lusenjiao"(strelitziacease) can save people from thirsty and sunstroke. The "dancing herb" rotates gently when listening to the music. The "king lotus" can hold a baby on its broad leave. The "mysterious fruit" can reverse taste, turning sour to sweet. The "pattra palm" can be used to write Buddhist Scripture on its leaves. The "jackfruit" can blossom and bear fruit on its stalk. The "lard fruit" enjoys the name of "Oil king" in the forest. The "tuanhua tree"(Anthocephalus Chinensis) grows ten times faster than the pine.The "common nepenthes" can small insects. The fruit of "yolk fruit tree" has the some colour, shape and taste as an egg. The "colour-changing flower" changes colour three times daily.The "sensitive grass" closes its leaves when one touches it.
