In collaboration with the Paris national Museum of Natural History, Carrière Frères highlights an exceptional collection of plants that are unusual, exotic and packed
with history.
Absinthe
Absinthe is a perennial shrub native to continental, temperate zones in Europe, Asia and North Africa. Called 'the green fairy,' absinthe was reputed to provide creative powers, and before being banned was the infamous muse that inspired writers like Emile Zola and Paul Verlaine, painters Vincent Van Gogh and Edgar Degas.
Acacia
Native to the eastern U.S., the acacia, or black locust tree, has lush, cool green foliage, flat pods that hold their seeds and clusters of sweet, cream-coloured flowers. Cultivated in Europe since the 17th Century, the tree can live for over 300 years.
Today, in Paris, you can still see two unique specimens, planted by King Henri IV's gardener back in 1601.
Waterlily
A perennial water plant, waterlily or Nymphaea is a member of the Nymphaeaceae family. If the Nymphaeas gather today 35 species around the world, until the 19th Century, in Europe, we only know the white flowers nympheas. French horticulturists then decide to cross European and tropical species to create coloured hybrids that will later be exhibited in the Trocadero’s basins during the Paris universal exhibition in 1889 and featured in Claude Monet’s painting untitled Les Nymphéas.