Type Municipal Created 1945 (1945) | Area 37 acres (15 ha) Website Fruit and Spice Park | |
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Location Redland, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States Operated by Miami-Dade County Parks and Recreation Department | ||
The Fruit and Spice Park is a 37-acre (15 ha) botanical garden in Miami-Dade County at 24801 SW 187 Avenue, located in the rural agricultural community of Redland, about 20 miles southwest of Downtown Miami.
Contents
Exhibits
The park contains more than 500 varieties of fruit, nut, and spice trees, including more than 80 banana varieties, 160 varieties of mango, more than 40 varieties of grapes, 70 bamboo varieties, plus guava, jackfruit, canistel, sapodilla, longan, lychee, mamey sapote, black sapote ("chocolate pudding fruit"), miracle fruit, jaboticaba, cecropia ("snake fingers"), coffee beans, and wax jambu, as well as other more exotic edibles. Visitors are free to sample fruits lying on the ground, but are not allowed to pick anything from the trees. Fruits that may be poisonous if not consumed correctly, such as ackee, are fenced for safety. The park has completed many renovations and separates the plants into Caribbean, African and Asian sections.
Facilities
Entrance requires an admission fee ($8, c. 2014) but the entrance has a store open to the public where many fruits from the park can be sampled for free. A tram is available with a guide for free once inside the park. It leaves from nearby the spice garden. The Mango Cafe, a favorite of locals and tourists alike, serves healthy selections. The entrance hall has a large library of gardening books, spices, honey, jams, jellies and souvenirs for sale.