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Sri Lanka Sri Lanka arboretum

Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya

Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0

88% trees around it and 295 species recorded.

85Forestyas Score

ArboretumDense canopyBirds

  • trees within 3 km88%
  • wild within 10 km94%
  • species recorded295
  • Altitude491 m

The forest around

88% trees.

Read like the rings of a cut trunk: from the centre out, the land within 1, 3, 6 and 10 km, coloured by what covers it.

Trees 76%Grassland 4%Water 3%Cropland 1%Built-up 17%Trees 90%Grassland 1%Water 0%Bare ground 0%Cropland 1%Built-up 8%Trees 90%Grassland 4%Water 1%Cropland 1%Built-up 5%Trees 92%Grassland 3%Water 0%Cropland 2%Built-up 3%88%trees · 3 km

Trees, ring by ring

  • 0–1 km76%
  • 1–3 km90%
  • 3–6 km90%
  • 6–10 km92%

What covers the land (1–3 km)

  • Trees90%
  • Grassland1%
  • Water0%
  • Cropland1%
  • Built-up8%

ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m, from Sentinel satellites), sampled every 120 m. A clearing, a road or a lake counts as what it is.

Who lives here

295 species recorded.

The plants, fungi, birds and mammals people have recorded here most often.

Megathyrsus maximus
Megathyrsus maximusMegathyrsus maximus13 recordsHarry Rose from South West Rocks, Australia · CC BY 2.0
Red grass
Red grassThemeda triandra9 recordsPeripitus · CC BY-SA 3.0
Broadleaf carpetgrass
Broadleaf carpetgrassAxonopus compressus8 recordsForest & Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0
Pride of Burma
Pride of BurmaAmherstia nobilis7 recordsTatiana Gerus · CC BY 2.0
Siala
SialaMarkhamia lutea7 recordsFrancisco Manuel Blanco (O.S.A.) · Public domain
Macarthur Palm
Macarthur PalmPtychosperma macarthurii6 recordsForest & Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0
CinnamonVU
CinnamonCinnamomum verum6 recordsUnknown author · Public domain
Candle tree
Candle treeParmentiera cereifera6 recordsCyndy Sims Parr · CC BY-SA 2.0
Hilograss
HilograssPaspalum conjugatum5 recordsForest & Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0
Tailed maidenhair
Tailed maidenhairAdiantum caudatum4 recordsUser:Rijans007 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Solanum violaceum
Solanum violaceumSolanum violaceum4 recordsVinayaraj · CC BY-SA 3.0
Jackfruit tree
Jackfruit treeArtocarpus heterophyllus4 recordsChirocca77 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Open records within 2 km (GBIF, licensed for any use). Busy places are better recorded than remote ones.

In numbers

The forest, measured.

85out of 100

Our own rating, from open data only: tree cover (40 points), wildness (20), species recorded (30) and protection or heritage (10).

  • 88%Treesof the land within 3 km
  • 94%Wildno towns or farmland within 10 km
  • 295Speciesrecorded more than once within 2 km
  • 491 mAltitudeabove the sea

When to walk

Best for walking from January to February and from June to August.

How good each month is for a walk: mild days and little rain make the bar taller.

  1. Jan27°19°116 mm
  2. Feb29°19°89 mm
  3. Mar31°20°96 mm
  4. Apr32°22°154 mm
  5. May30°23°133 mm
  6. Jun29°23°73 mm
  7. Jul29°22°62 mm
  8. Aug29°22°70 mm
  9. Sep29°22°101 mm
  10. Oct29°22°228 mm
  11. Nov28°21°279 mm
  12. Dec27°20°243 mm
  • Bar: walking comfort; the number on top is the average maximum.
  • Below: average minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya.

Botanical garden in Sri Lanka

Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya is an arboretum in Sri Lanka, 491 m above the sea.

Seen from space, 88% of the land within 3 km is trees, and 94% of the land within 10 km has no towns or farmland.

295 species have been recorded around it: 138 plants, 9 fungi, 143 birds and 5 mammals.

The most recorded plants are: Megathyrsus maximus, Red grass and Broadleaf carpetgrass.

The best time to walk is from January to February and from June to August.

Botanical Garden of Peradeniya 03
Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0

Get there and walk

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at CMB airport (Colombo)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The forest and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the trails, notable trees, picnic sites and huts that OpenStreetMap shows.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 2marked trails within 5 kmPekoe Trail - Stage 01 - Hantana to Galaha
  • 7named and notable trees within 6 kmBo Tree, Double Coconut Tree, Boo Tree and 4 more
  • 13shelters and huts within 6 km
  • 12viewpoints within 5 kmArthur’s Seat, Katusu Konda, Viewpoint of Asgiri Maha Vihara Pirivena and 9 more
  • 3visitor centres within 6 kmTourist Information Center, Kandy Tourist Information Centre
  • 21car parks within 3 km
  • 2campsites within 10 km
  • 396places to stay within 10 kmThe Change villa, Mapura Rest, Amaya Hills Hotel and 393 more
  • 43restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • picnic sites within 4 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya.

The mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and canyons around this forest, the viewpoints above it, the birds and the night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas31 mountains within 25 km
Randles Hill2.6 kmBible Rock670 m · 20 kmHagala22 kmRidihena22 kmWerellepola23 kmIngurugala23 kmUnagalle24 kmEtapola24 km
Islandyasthe island
Sri Lanka67,655 km²
Viewyas1 viewpoints within 15 kmComing soon
Arthur's Seat, Kandy5.3 km
Riveryasthe river nearby
Mahaweli River335 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The forest, as people saw it.

3A8A0303
Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya · CC BY-SA 4.0
Alley in Royal Botanical Gardens
Dmitriy Ryzhov · CC BY-SA 4.0
Allophyllus cobbe-Jardin botanique de Kandy (1)
Ji-Elle · CC BY-SA 3.0

Other forests nearby.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya

Sri Lanka

  • 85Forestyas Score
  • 88%Trees
  • 94%Wild
  • 295Species

Galkadawela

Sri Lanka · 42 km

  • 78Forestyas Score
  • 89%Trees
  • 98%Wild
  • 80Species

See the guide

Sinharaja Forest Reserve

Sri Lanka · 120 km

  • 79Forestyas Score
  • 96%Trees
  • 99%Wild
  • 23Species

See the guide

Sri Maha Bodhi

Sri Lanka · 121 km

  • 60Forestyas Score
  • 55%Trees
  • 82%Wild
  • 143Species

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q3119056) · CC0
Land coverESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200 · © ESA WorldCover project / Copernicus Sentinel data · CC BY 4.0
Species8,514 open records within 2 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only)
See these recordsgbif.org
Names and photosWikidata (CC0); GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Islandyas, Viewyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit
forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.You are here