Mascarin Botanical Garden

Mascarin occupies a nineteenth-century estate at around five hundred metres above Saint-Leu and functions as the botanical conservatory for the island, holding collections of the endemic flora of Réunion and the wider Mascarenes alongside palms, succulents, useful plants and a garden of species introduced to the island. Much of the work is conservation of species reduced to a handful of wild individuals. The creole house at the centre holds displays.

What you actually see

• The endemic collection - plants found only on Reunion and the Mascarenes.
• The conservation work - species being propagated from tiny wild populations.
• The creole house - the nineteenth-century estate building at the garden's centre.
• The palm and succulent gardens - the themed collections around the grounds.

When to go

Year round; the garden works in any weather though rain is frequent. It closes on Mondays. Mornings are clearest for the coastal view.

Honest expectations

It closes on Mondays. Labelling is mostly in French and botanical Latin. The garden is on a slope and involves a good deal of walking.

Nearby

Stella Matutina is northwest, and Saint-Leu is below.