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Amsterdam has one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world called Hortus Botanicus. Its ws established in 1638 by the city municipality as Hortus Medicus, an herb garden with medical plants for Amsterdam doctor and pharmacists. The reasons for establishing a specialized medical garden were very serious: at that time the cities of Leiden and Utrecht experienced the plague epidemic (1634-1637) with thousands of victim. Additionally, several monasteries moved out of the quickly growing city and there was not enough space in Amsterdam to plant herbs.

In the second half of the 17th Century, The Amsterdam Hortus Botanicus garden already established at its present address (since 1682), had a rich collection of plants completely unknown in Europe. They were brought here from all over the world by the traders of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Some the plants from the Amsterdam botanic garden, as one single coffee plants, Coffea Arabica, or two small oil palms in pots brought to Hortus Botanicu, are seen today as the parents for the entire culture of these plants which later expanded throughout the whole continents.