Botany · Ch 5 — Taxonomy and Systematic Botany
Botanical Gardens
Botanical Gardens
A botanical garden is specifically a centre for collecting and maintaining plants through their various stages of living - not every attractive garden qualifies. Gardens for ornamental/religious/status purposes go back to antiquity (the Hanging Gardens of Babylon), but the first garden built for SCIENCE and education was Theophrastus's public-lecture-hall garden at Athens. The first modern botanical garden was established by Luca Ghini (1490-1556), a professor of Botany at Pisa, Italy, in 1544. There are now roughly 1,800 botanical gardens and arboreta worldwide, often holding special collections (cacti, succulents, tropical, alpine, exotic plants).
Roles of a botanical garden: (1) aesthetic value, drawing large numbers of visitors (e.g. the Great Banyan Tree, Ficus benghalensis, at the Indian Botanical Garden, Kolkata); (2) supplying a wide range of taxonomic material for botanical research; (3) self-instruction/demonstration; (4) integrating diverse fields - Anatomy, Embryology, Phytochemistry, Cytology, Physiology, Ecology; (5) acting as a conservation centre for diversity, rare and endangered species; (6) offering an annual list of available species with free seed exchange; (7) sharing information on propagation methods and selling plant material to the public.
The Royal Botanic Garden, Kew (England) is a non-departmental UK public body, established 1760 and officially opened in 1841 - the world's LARGEST botanical garden, with Aquatic, Arboretum (14,000 trees), Bonsai, Cacti and Carnivorous-plant collections. …
What this figure shows. An infographic comparing four Indian national/botanical gardens: the Indian Botanical Garden, Kolkata (established 1786 by Lt. Col. Robert Kyd; the largest and oldest; major attraction the Great Banyan Tree; about 15,000 plant species); the National Botanical Garden, Lucknow (established 1948; an arboretum of 500 tree species and 500 rose-hybrid species; major attraction its germplasm collection and ex-situ conservation programme); the National Orchidarium, Yercaud (major attraction insectivorous plants; maintained by the Southern Circle of the Botanical Survey of India, established 1963); and the JNTBGRI, Trivandrum, Kerala (established 1979; 3,000 trees and 1,800 shrubs; major attraction …
What this figure shows. A photograph of the landscaped grounds of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, England - the world's largest botanical garden, established in 1760 and officially opened in 1841; its plant collections include an Aquatic garden, a 14,000-tree Arboretum, a Bonsai collection, a Cacti collection and a Carnivorous pl …