Botanical garden
From Free net encyclopedia
Image:US botanic garden 2.jpg Image:Fd000009.jpg Botanical gardens grow a wide variety of plants primarily categorized and documented for scientific purposes. Botanists tend the flora and maintain the garden's library and herbarium of dried and documented plant material. Botanical gardens may also serve to entertain and educate the public, upon whom many depend for funding. However, not all botanical gardens are open to the public: for example the Chelsea Physic Garden.
Contents |
Research
From the late 18th century onward, European botanical gardens began sending plant-collecting expeditions to various parts of the world and publishing their findings. Voyages of exploration routinely included botanists for this purpose. Subsequent scientific work studied how these exotic plants might be adapted to grow in the garden's locale, how to classify them, and how to propagate rare or endangered species. The Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, near London, has continuously published journals and more recently catalogues and databases since this time.
Educational work
Educational projects at botanical gardens range from introductions to plants that thrive in different environments to practical advice for the home gardener. Many have plant shops, selling flower, herb, and vegetable seedlings suitable for transplantation. Some gardens such as the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research and the Chicago Botanic Garden have plant breeding programs and introduce new plants to the horticultural trade.
 Inside the United States Botanic Garden |
 Inside Kew Gardens Palm House |
 A botanical garden of Kitchener's Island, Aswan |
 University of British Columbia Botanical Garden |
History
The first modern botanical gardens were founded in Northern Italy in connection with universities:
Other European towns then followed suit:
- Leiden, Netherlands (1590)
- Montpellier, France (1593)
- Heidelberg, Germany (1597)
- Tübingen, Germany by Leonhart Fuchs
- Copenhagen, Denmark (1600)
- Uppsala, Sweden (1655)
- Hannover, Germany (1666)
See also
de:Botanischer Garten es:Jardín botánico eo:Botanika ĝardeno fr:Jardin botanique id:Kebun raya it:Orto botanico he:גן בוטני lt:Botanikos sodas nl:Hortus botanicus ja:植物園 pl:Ogród botaniczny pt:Jardim botânico ro:Grădină botanică ru:Ботанический сад sl:Botanični vrt sv:Botanisk trädgård th:สวนพฤกษศาสตร์ zh:植物園