The Regional Plant Resource Centre in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, July 27: An aromatic flower garden is set to be opened at the Regional Plant Resource Centre in the city.

Built over an area of four acres, the garden will have 70 varieties of aromatic flowering plants including kadamb, malati, malli (during monsoon), tuberose, nageswar, sugandharaj (in summer) and dracena, vallaris and beach gardenia (in winter).

Sources at the centre said visitors could come to the garden all around the year because it would house more than 100 varieties of plants and some or the other plant would be in bloom at all times. The authorities have developed a landscape with lawns and pathways for the visitors.

Chief executive of the centre A.K. Mahapatra said the aromatic garden was ready for visitors. “The work is almost complete and it is likely that the garden will be opened to the public before August 15,” he said.

Apart from plant species from Odisha, exotic varieties from places such as Bangalore and the Northeast would also be displayed.

“The institute is working on creating a genetic database of the plants on its campus and all the fragrant varieties will be included in the process,” said a senior official of the centre. Sources said the institute had so far mapped the DNA of more than 450 plant species and aimed to cover another 3,000 major plant species available in the state.

The fragrant flower-bearing plants also have medicinal value. Aromatic oils derived from the flowers are used for aroma therapy in ayurveda and also in spas where specific aromatic elements are used to relieve people of stress and even pain.

“The aromatic garden will certainly add to the beauty of the Ekamra Kanan,” said Shravani Sahoo, a visitor.

Earlier, the Regional Plant Resource Centre had successfully cultivated orchids on a large scale through tissue culture. The centre has a collection of more than 200 orchids.