The cactus centre in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 12: A stroll at Regional Plant Resource Centre, which has Asia’s largest collection of cacti, is an experience few would like to forget in a hurry.

No doubt the brightly coloured plants have been drawing tourists and researchers from across the state and abroad. With more than 1,050 species of finest and richest varieties of cacti and succulents grown in an area of 20,000sqft, the centre — established by the state government — has been evolving many new inter-generic and inter-specific hybrids adding new names to the existing list.

Continuing with the effort to popularise the collection, curation and propagation of cacti among the public, the centre would soon open a new cacti house.

The house is likely to be opened by the last week of this month, the centre’s chief executive officer, A.K Mahapatra said.

The centre already has a series of poly-houses covering an area of 20,000sqft. The new addition would house 500 t0 600 varieties of cacti, he added. Apart from collecting samples from different parts of the world, the centre has many indigenously developed varieties. Out of several varieties of cactus found across the world, Echinocactus grusonii, Gymnocalycium, Mammillaria, Melocactus, Ferocactus, Astrophytum, Sulcorebutia, Opuntia, Parodia and Hildwintera are prized possessions of the centre.