La Serre Amazonienne is a tropical greenhouse

Greenhouse

A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...

 representing the Amazon

Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...

 environment. It is located at 50 avenue Agropolis, Montpellier

Montpellier

-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....

, Hérault

Hérault

Hérault is a department in the south of France named after the Hérault river.-History:Hérault is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...

, Languedoc-Roussillon

Languedoc-Roussillon

Languedoc-Roussillon is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.-Geography:The region is...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, and open daily; an admission fee is charged.

The greenhouse opened in 2007 as part of the Montpellier Zoo with a footprint of about 2,600 m2. It represents 7 climatic zones and habitats, with a large aviary

Aviary

An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds. Unlike cages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flight cages...

, and with an artificial rainstorm every two hours to simulate the rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

 environment.

The greenhouse now contains more than 500 animals and 8,000 plants representing 300 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

. Its animal collection includes anaconda

Anaconda

An anaconda is a large, non-venomous snake found in tropical South America. Although the name actually applies to a group of snakes, it is often used to refer only to one species in particular, the common or green anaconda, Eunectes murinus, which is one of the largest snakes in the world.Anaconda...

s, ant

Ant

Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...

s, anteater

Anteater

Anteaters, also known as antbear, are the four mammal species of the suborder Vermilingua commonly known for eating ants and termites. Together with the sloths, they compose the order Pilosa...

s, armadillo

Armadillo

Armadillos are New World placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one"...

s, bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

s, boa

Boa

The Boidae are a family of nonvenomous snakes found in America, Africa, Europe, Asia and some Pacific Islands. Relatively primitive snakes, adults are medium to large in size, with females usually larger than the males. Two subfamilies comprising eight genera and 43 species are currently...

s, cayman

Cayman

Cayman may refer to* Cayman Islands, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom;* Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, or Little Cayman, three islands that are part of the Cayman Islands;* Porsche Cayman, a sports car produced by Porsche;...

s, ibis

Ibis

The ibises are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae....

es, ocelot

Ocelot

The ocelot , pronounced /ˈɒsəˌlɒt/, also known as the dwarf leopard or McKenney's wildcat is a wild cat distributed over South and Central America and Mexico, but has been reported as far north as Texas and in Trinidad, in the Caribbean...

s, piranha

Piranha

A piranha or piraña is a member of family Characidae in order Characiformes, an omnivorous freshwater fish that inhabits South American rivers. In Venezuela, they are called caribes...

s, tamarin

Tamarin

The tamarins are squirrel-sized New World monkeys from the family Callitrichidae in the genus Saguinus. They are closely related to the lion tamarins in the genus Leontopithecus.- Range :...

s, and tarantula

Tarantula

Tarantulas comprise a group of often hairy and often very large arachnids belonging to the family Theraphosidae, of which approximately 900 species have been identified. Some members of the same Suborder may also be called "tarantulas" in the common parlance. This article will restrict itself to...

s. The plant collections include 34 species of palm trees, 15 species of tree ferns, and 95 types of trees, with plants of interest including Acrosticum aureum, Anthurium ferrierense, Canna indica

Canna indica

Canna indica L. is a species of the Canna genus, belonging to the family Cannaceae, a native of the Caribbean and tropical Americas that is also widely cultivated as a garden plant...

, Cattleya bicolor

Cattleya bicolor

Cattleya bicolor is a species of orchid.Chromosome numbers of several C. bicolor individuals have been determined, finding diploid chromosome numbers of both 2n = 40 and 2n = 80 .-Footnotes:...

, Cattleya mossiae

Cattleya mossiae

Cattleya mossiae is a species of labiate Cattleya orchid. It shares the rarely used common name of Easter orchid with C. schroederae. The white-flowered form is sometimes known as Cattleya wagneri. The diploid chromosome number of C. mossiae has been determided as 2n = 40...

, Cephaelis poeppigiana, Costus cuspidatus, Heliconia angusta

Heliconia angusta

Heliconia angusta Vell. , of Heliconiaceae family is an erect herb typically growing 0.70 m tall, native to Brazil .-General:...

, Hibiscus elatus, Philodendron elegans, Philodendron panduriforme, Polypodium polypodioides, Tillandsia cyanea

Tillandsia cyanea

Tillandsia cyanea or Pink Quill is a species of flowering plant in the bromeliad family, subfamily Tillandsioideae. An epiphyte native to Ecuador, T. cyanea is among the most commonly cultivated bromeliad species. The foliage grows in a rosette of thin, recurved leaves and the inflorescence is a...

, Vriesea carinata

Vriesea carinata

Vriesea carinata is a species of the genus Vriesea. This species is endemic to Brazil.-Cultivars:* Vriesea 'Brachystachys-Splendens'* Vriesea 'Cardinalis'* Vriesea 'Christiane'* Vriesea 'Crimson Glow'* Vriesea 'Karamea Tipsy'...

, and Xanthosoma violaceum

Xanthosoma violaceum

Xanthosoma violaceum, commonly known as Tiquisque, produces a starchy tuber. It and the white species Xanthosoma sagittifolium are sold commercially. These tubers and those of several related genera are important staple crops in many tropical regions....

.