Rome’s Colosseum once home to hundreds of plant species

You can’t tell by the way it looks now, but the Colosseum in Rome once was home to hundreds of species of plants — 420 according to botanist Richard Deakin in the 1850s. There were 50+ varieties of grass, plenty of plants common throughout Italy — and flowers that didn’t grow anywhere else in Europe.

The Atlantic took a look at the Colosseum’s legacy and how archaeologists and conservationists are trying to factor in the atmosphere of sites in their preservation.

Artwork featured in their story paints a much different image of the Colosseum than today’s stripped-down look.

“Interior of the Colosseum, Rome,” 1832 (Thomas Cole)

Most of the vegetation was removed in the late 19th century. A survey between 1990 and 2000 found more than 200 varieties.

“Plants growing today in the Colosseum include very rare species like Asphodelus fistulosus and Sedum dasphyllum, which scientists believe can only survive when sheltered by the arena, a sanctuary from the urban environment outside,” Paul Cooper writes in the Atlantic.