The Botanical Garden was opened in 1866 under the direction of Prof. Patrizio Gennari.

Nowadays, it contains about 2,000 species, predominantly of Mediterranean origins, but with a good collection of succulent and tropical plants as well. The garden is divided in three main sections:

-Plants from Mediterranean, which represent the main three sections of the vegetation in Sardinia, as well as the species coming from Australia, California and Chile;

– Succulent Plants – about 1,000 species of plants such as the Echinocereus, Euphorbia, Lamphrantus, Mammillaria, Opuntia, etc, grown in greenhouses and outdoor, almost equally split between species from Africa and America;

– Tropical plants.

All in, the garden contains about 600 trees and 550 shrubs. Of special merit is the area dedicated to the collection of palms (stretched for 4000 m2) with about 60 species of Euphorbia canariensis, with the extension of 100 m2. The garden area has also a considerable archaeological importance because of the presence of tanks and wells from the Roman period.

The botanical garden is directed by the University of Cagliari and streched for 5 hectares. Currently the garden contains about 2000 species, predominantly of Mediterranean origin but with a good collection of succulents and tropical plants as well.