Botanical garden

A botanical garden (or botanic garden) is a collection of living plants gathered primarily to highlight some commonality between plant groups. The collections are generally labeled—with common and scientific names and region of origin—and the importance of the plants or their significance within the grouping may be included.

Many modern botanic gardens are chiefly ornamental, although they often display specimens in groups based on scientific classification. For example, a collection may include a variety of Arecaceae, or palms, native to a particular region. Some botanic gardens include features such as display gardens of shrubs and trees, often called arboretums, and living collections such as native plants from a specific geographic location.

While early botanic gardens often had a practical purpose, such as providing food or growing plants used for medicinal reasons, modern botanic gardens offer other benefits. Many are designed to educate as well as provide respite from the pressures of modern urban life. Some have become repositories for threatened and endangered species.

Some famous botanic gardens include the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, England; the Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania; Claude Monet's Gardens at Giverny, France; and the Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum at the University of Berlin, Germany.

Brief History

Ancestors of modern botanic gardens were established in China, ancient Egypt, and the region around the Mediterranean. These collections were often of importance as sources of foods and medicines. As Catholicism grew, many monks established medicinal gardens behind monastery walls as early as the eighth century. Although these gardens had a purpose, they were not yet botanic gardens.

Many of the people who grew and studied plants documented their observations. These manuscripts were copied by hand and shared. With the development of printing, however, such manuscripts reached much wider audiences. The availability of this information cultivated more interest in botany. Printers were able to create books called herbals that described plants, allowing individuals to identify them, and some people began planting their own collections.

The plant collectors were primarily teachers who used the plants for medical purposes and were training others in their identification and use. The first of these physic gardens, which were the first true botanic gardens, were created in Italy during the 1540s at Pisa and Padua. Hundreds more were created across Europe in the centuries that followed and fostered the scientific field of botany during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Some gardens led to the development of new industries; for example, a collection of flowering bulbs in a garden in Leiden, Netherlands, gave birth to the demand for Dutch bulbs.

Explorers acquired many specimens in collections. For example, the United States exploring expedition to the South Seas returned to Washington, DC, in 1842 with numerous living specimens, which became part of the collection of the United States Botanic Garden. Some plants were collected specifically for botanic gardens by experts seeking new species. In many cases, live plants were uprooted and moved. Some may have been propagated from seeds collected on expeditions, and many modern botanic gardens engage in seed exchanges.

Much research into plant species has taken place in botanic gardens. This work has influenced the availability and popularity of some plants. For example, numerous plants at Kew have been developed for commercial sale and production. These include bananas, cacao, coffee, pineapple, and the rubber tree, and plants from which drugs are produced.

Overview

The roots of botanic gardens as educational centers continue in the twenty-first century, but in an entirely new way. Rather than serving as tools of medical knowledge, many collections serve as resources for the public. Some provide information to gardeners on how to cultivate the plants. Others offer general information by exposing visitors to plants from other parts of the world and providing context, such as how the plants fit together or what botanists have discovered about them.

Education remains an important element of many botanic gardens. Many are used to educate gardeners, such as training programs at Kew and gardens established at schools with horticulture programs. Many botanic gardens offer educational opportunities to the public. Some provide classes for children and adults about gardening and plants. Such instruction offers both practical knowledge and exposure to horticulture and agriculture\, areas in which many people in modern society have little contact.

Many plants in botanic garden collections are heirlooms. These are plants that are often the ancestors of modern plants. Such specimens may be valuable to researchers, who may seek older varieties to learn more about traits they had or seek to understand when species gained such traits through crossbreeding. The collections exist as repositories of genetic material. Some specimens may be propagated as breeding stock or developed for commercial use. Some botanic gardens are actively working to reforest and restore areas damaged by coastal erosion, mining, and clear-cutting of woodlands, increase biodiversity, and return native species where introduced species have encroached on them.

Botanic gardens may vary widely in size. They may be the equivalent of a few soccer fields, or a thousand hectares in size. The layout of many botanic gardens includes a variety of plants exhibited together for a reason—often geographic origin—as well as aesthetic purposes. Some gardens include an arboretum, or an area of trees and shrubs. Many, however, include both landscape plants and trees and shrubs in a pleasing arrangement.

Among the collection types common in botanic gardens are roses, rock gardens, and wildflower collections. Many also include Japanese landscape gardens, which are popular with visitors. Many include greenhouses to shelter tropical plants—such as bromeliads, cacti, orchids, and palm trees—from temperatures and weather conditions in which they cannot otherwise grow. Gardens may have greenhouses that are open to visitors, in which plants are displayed in collections, as well as greenhouses devoted to plant propagation. They may also have hotbeds, which are temporary growing spaces for plants that will be placed elsewhere when they are of sufficient size or the weather conditions are correct.

A wide variety of people may be employed by botanic gardens. Staff may include botanists, tree pruning specialists, plant pathologists, and lawn care crews, as well as librarians and people to conduct tours, offer instruction, and generally assist visitors. A private garden may be under the authority of a board of trustees and a director, while university gardens are generally overseen by the heads of the departments they serve. Many botanic gardens are funded through dues paid by members, through endowment funds, or with the support of patrons. In the early twenty-first century, 1,775 botanic gardens and arboreta were operating in 148 countries.

Bibliography

"Brief History of the U.S. Botanic Garden." United States Botanic Garden, PERLINK "http://www.usbg.gov/brief-history-us-botanic-garden" www.usbg.gov/brief-history-us-botanic-garden. Accessed 12 June 2017.

"The History of Botanic Gardens." Botanic Gardens Conservation International, HYPERLINK "http://www.bgci.org/resources/history/" www.bgci.org/resources/history/. Accessed 12 June 2017.

"Living Collections." Botanic Gardens Conservation International, www.bgci.org/resources/living‗collections/. Accessed 7 June 2017.

Lo, Kevin. "The World's Oldest Botanical Gardens." Atlas Obscura, 15 Oct. 2014, www.atlasobscura.com/articles/world-s-oldest-botanical-gardens. Accessed 12 June 2017.

"Plant Science Subject Guide - Botanical Gardens." University of Connecticut, 29 Aug. 2024, guides.lib.uconn.edu/c.php?g=606682&p=4800535. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

Powledge, Fred. "The Evolving Role of Botanical Gardens: Hedges against Extinction, Showcases for Botany?" American Institute of Biological Sciences, 1 Oct. 2011, academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/61/10/743/258036. Accessed 12 June 2017.

"The Role of Botanic Gardens." Botanic Gardens Conservation International, www.bgci.org/plant-conservation/botanic-gardens/. Accessed 12 June 2017.

"The Role of Botanic Gardens in Plant Conservation." Botanic Gardens Conservation International, www.bgci.org/resources/bgs‗in‗conservation/. Accessed 12 June 2017.

"Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew." United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, whc.unesco.org/en/list/1084. Accessed 12 June 2017.

Rutherford, Sarah. Botanic Gardens, Bloomsbury, 2015.