Enriched with more than 1,000 species of plants, the garden offers the students as well as the teachers a rare scope of carrying out practical and research works on the university campus.

The garden is spread over 100 acres of land adjoining the Pritilata Hall on the south of the university campus.

Prof Dr M Abdul Aziz Khan, founding head of the Botany department, took the initiative to turn a natural forest into the garden in 1976.

The aim was to help the students as well as the teachers of the university in their research work.

The garden under the supervision of the Botany department has different species of plants in 35 blocks.

The blocks are there for nurturing separately medicinal, shrub, woody, orchid, teak, palash, mahogany, gymnosperm, lemon, jackfruit, palm, coconut, rose, seasonal flower, manjium and spices.

Besides, there are also some blocks for developing miscellaneous species of plants.

The garden has a separate orchid house enriched with some 80 types of orchids.

There is a conservatory house to conserve rare species of plants, the students collect during the excursion or field tours to the garden, said Mohammed Mujibur Rahman, horticulturist of the garden.

After being taken care of and nurtured at the conservatory house these plants are then replanted at the suitable blocks, said Mujibur who has been working at the garden for three decades since the beginning.

The medicinal plants include Sarpagandha, Harjoralata, Nisinda, Kalo Megh, Tulashi Pata, Aurjun, Bohera, Thankuni, Dhutara, Basak, Neem, Tamarind and Horitaki.

Apart from seasonal and different species of flowers like Ganda, Silvia, Dahlia, Cosmos, Star, Sunflower, the garden also has 12 types of roses.

The garden is also blessed with Dossera - a rare species of plant that attracts insects and kills them with its secretion. The Dossera usually grows at the hillside fallow land of the garden during the winter, said Prof Dr M Atiqur Rahman, chairman of the Botany department.

Botany Department also takes care of the roadside plants and the garden of woody and endangered species of plants to the south of Science Faculty Building on the campus.

The garden earns around Tk one lakh from the sale of fruits and timbers for the university a year, Dr Atiqur said.

The local people damage the garden when they walk through the garden and take away the fences, sources said.

Illegal logging is also a threat to the garden, sources added.

In this regard they said miscreants felled down around 350 valuable teak trees at the garden few years ago.

Cooperation from the authority concerned and more human resources are required for better care and further development of the garden, Dr Atiqur said.

"We also have plan for developing several other blocks of medicinal and potential plants in the garden," he said.