Frei Leandro - First Botanical Director

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The Botanical Garden, practically abandoned during the fights for Independence, proceeds to be directed, from 1824 to 1829, by Frei Leandro do Sacramento.

Frei Leandro, a munk from the Carmelita Order, member of both London and Munich Academies of Science, and Professor of Botany at the Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Rio de Janeiro, was the first Botanical director of the Garden during the first Reign. The Botanical Garden attained a scientific characteristic during his administration, later enforced by Barbosa Rodrigues, which identifies it today.

"...everything the Garden can offer in notable ancient works is a result of its

active spirit and intelligence, used only under a scientific point of view".

Main Changes

• Reorganization of the Flower Park
• Increase of the Garden's cultivated area
• Distribution of cuttings and seeds to gardens all over the country
• Construction of an artificial lake, Frei Leandro Lake
• Construction of a hillock, where was later built the Casa dos Cedros (Cedar's House)
• Enrichment of the collection by a plant exchange with the Botanical Garden of Cambridge.
• Transformation of the Acclimatizing Garden of exotic plants into an Institute of Botanical Studies.