Fernery

The plants in the first fern house belong to three different groups, namely:

• the lower group of plants such as ferns, mosses, lichens and mushrooms
• the higher group of plants such as conifers (cycads, pine trees, cedars, and the welwitschias), and
• the flowering plants such as palms, aloes, yuccas and dragon trees.

The second fern house with its lush tree ferns such as Alsophila capensis and A. dregei from South Africa , and A. dealbata (silver fern) from New Zealand, depicts the environment as it possibly looked during the existence of the now extinct large reptiles. Other interesting ferns seen here are the stag-horn fern (Platycerium bifurcatum), the seven-week fern (Rumohra adiantiformis) and the South American horsetail (Equisetum giganteum).