In the Botanical garden “Apothecary garden” of flowers blossomed cocoa.

About magic tree cacao we’ve all heard in childhood and dreamed to grow at home, and the trunk magically appeared chocolate. The fruit really is used for making cocoa butter, powder and sweets. But in our latitudes, and especially home, grow crops naughty chocolate would not be possible because the plant is thermophilic, its homeland – the tropics of South and Central America.

However, there is in Moscow a place where now blooms cocoa! In Victorei greenhouse “Aptekarsky ogorod” white flowers grow directly on the trunk of an evergreen tree, not the branches. Fasten the fruit again directly to the trunk, in the form they are similar to lemon, elongated melon and cucumber, inside of which from 20 to 60 cocoa beans, surrounded by whitish pulp.

Cocoa is very capricious and sensitive plants, so before the opening of the greenhouse with suitable conditions they were closed for visiting a collector’s greenhouse. In favorable conditions, the chocolate tree blooms and bears fruit year-round from 5 years of age. Detailed information can be found on tropical tours “where it’s always summer” for adults and children 10 and 11 December.

In addition to water lilies and cocoa in Victorei greenhouse grow such outlandish guests: sugar cane, ginger, cardamom, guava, papaya, snake fruit, carnivorous plants, mangroves, pink bananas and anthuriums.

“Apothecary garden” is open daily at the address: prospect Mira 26/1, from 10:00 to 20:00, cash-Desk until 19:30.

The cost of a full admission ticket – 200 rubles., reduced (pupils, students, pensioners and holders of international student cards ISIC) – 150 RUB.