Botanical garden

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Botanical gardens^{[nb 1]} are generally well-tended parks displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names. They may contain specialist plant collections like cacti and succulents, herb gardens, plants from geographic regions and the like; there may be glasshouses, again with special collections like tropical, alpine or other exotic plants. Visitor services often include garden tours, educational displays, art exhibitions, book rooms, open-air theatrical and musical performances and other entertainment.

As scientifically-based organizations botanical gardens are often run by universities or other scientific research organizations and are likely to have an associated herbarium and a research program in plant taxonomy or some other aspect of botanical science. In principle their role is to maintain documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific research, conservation, display and education, although this will depend on the resources available and the special interests pursued at each particular garden.

The origin of modern botanic gardens can be traced to European medieval medicinal gardens known as physic gardens, the first of these being founded in Renaissance Italy in the 16th century. This early concern with medicinal plants changed in the 17th century to a concern with new plant imports from outside Europe and, in the 18th century systems of nomenclature and classification were devised by botanists working in the associated herbaria and universities, these systems often being displayed in the gardens as educational “order beds”. With European imperial expansion in the late 18th century botanic gardens were established in the tropics and economic botany became a focus with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew at the hub.

So, as cultural and scientific organisations botanic gardens have, over the years, responded to the botanical and horticultural interests and needs of the day. Nowadays most botanic gardens display a mix of the themes mentioned and more: having a strong connection with the general public there is the opportunity to provide visitors with information relating to the environmental issues confronting us at the start of the 21st century, especially those relating to plant conservation and global sustainability.

Contents 1 Definition 1.1 The botanic gardens network 2 Historical development 2.1 Botanic garden precursors 2.1.1 Grand gardens of ancient history 2.1.2 Physic gardens 2.2 Sixteenth century European Gardens 2.2.1 Origin in southern Europe 2.2.2 Northern Europe 2.3 Seventeenth century 2.3.1 Beginnings of botanical science 2.4 Eighteenth century 2.4.1 The Cape, Dutch East indies 2.4.2 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2.4.3 Plant classification 2.5 Nineteenth century 2.5.1 Tropical botanic gardens 2.5.2 Oceania 2.5.3 America and Russia 2.6 Twentieth century 2.6.1 Civic & Municipal botanic gardens 2.6.2 Community engagement 2.6.3 Plant conservation 3 Role and functions of botanic gardens 4 Future 5 See also 6 References 6.1 Footnotes 7 Bibliography 8 Further reading 9 External links 10 Photo gallery

[edit] Definition

The function of major botanic gardens world-wide has been considered so broadly similar as to fall within text book definition. The following definition was produced by staff of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York State in 1976. It covers in some detail the many roles and activities generally associated with botanic gardens.^[1]

"A botanical garden is a controlled and staffed institution for the maintenance of a living collection of plants under scientific management for purposes of education and research, together with such libraries, herbaria, laboratories, and museums as are essential to its particular undertakings. Each botanical garden naturally develops its own special fields of interests depending on its personnel, location, extent, available funds, and the terms of its charter. It may include greenhouses, test grounds, an herbarium, an arboretum, and other departments. It maintains a scientific as well as a plant-growing staff, and publication is one of its major modes of expression."

This broad outline is then expanded:

"The botanic garden maybe an independent institution, a governmental operation, or affiliated to a college or university. If a department of an educational institution, it may be related to a teaching program. In any case, it exists for scientific ends and is not to be restricted or diverted by other demands. It is not merely a landscaped or ornamental garden, although it may be artistic, nor is it an experiment station or yet a park with labels on the plants. The essential element is the intention of the enterprise, which is the acquisition and dissemination of botanical knowledge."

The "New RHS Dictionary of Gardening" (1999) points out that among the various kinds of organisations now known as botanical gardens there are many municipal gardens with little scientific activity, and it cites a more abbreviated definition that was published by the World Wildlife Fund and IUCN when launching the ’’Botanic Gardens Conservation Strategy’’ in 1989 — "A botanic garden is a garden containing scientifically ordered and maintained collections of plants, usually documented and labelled, and open to the public for the purposes of recreation, education and research."^[2] This has been further reduced by Botanic Gardens Conservation International to the following definition which "encompasses the spirit of a true botanic garden"^[3] — "A botanic garden is an institution holding documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific research, conservation, display and education."^[4]

[edit] The botanic gardens network

World-wide there are now about 1800 botanic gardens and arboreta^{[nb 2]} in about 150 countries (mostly in temperate regions) of which about 400 are in Europe, 200 in North America and 150 in Russia.^[5] These attract about 150 million visitors a year so it is hardly surprising that many people gained their first exciting introduction to the wonders of the plant world in a botanical garden.^[6]

Historically botanic gardens exchanged plants through the publication of seed lists (these were called Index Semina which originated in the 18th century). This was a means of transferring both plants and information between botanic gardens. This system continues today although the possibility of genetic piracy and the transmission of invasive species has received greater attention in recent times.^[7]

The International Association of Botanic Gardens^[8] was formed in 1954 as a worldwide organisation affiliated to the International Union of Biological Sciences. More recently coordination has also een provided by Botanic Gardens Conservation International^[9] which has the mission to "To mobilise botanic gardens and engage partners in securing plant diversity for the well-being of people and the planet". BGCI has over 700 members - mostly botanic gardens – in 118 countries and strongly supports the Global strategy for plant conservation^[10] by producing a range resources and publications, and by organizing international conferences and conservation programs. Communication is also achieved through regional networking. In America there is the American Public Gardens Association^[11] (formerly the American Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta) and in Australasia there is the Botanic Gardens of Australia and New Zealand (BGANZ).^[12]

[edit] Historical development

The unfolding of botanical garden history is closely linked to the history of botany as botanic gardens of the 16th and 17th centuries changed from medicinal gardens to sites displaying the beautiful, curious and new^[13] (sometimes economically important) plants from distant lands; then in the 18th century to classification grounds demonstrating the latest plant classification systems devised by botanists working in the associated herbaria, to the modern mix of specialist and eclectic gardens serving many aspects of horticultural and botanical science.^[14]

[edit] Botanic garden precursors

The idea of "scientific" gardens used specifically for the study of plants probably dates back to ideas suggested by the gardens of antiquity.^[15]

[edit] Grand gardens of ancient history

Substantial gardens set aside for economic use or display, containing at least some plants gained by special collection or military campaigns in foreign lands, are known from ancient Egypt, Assyria, and Mexico. Chinese Emperor Shen Nung in about 2800 BCE dispatched collectors to distant regions searching for plants with economic or medicinal vale.^[16] Early mediaeval Islamic Spain had gardens, like that of Ibn Wafid's garden at Toledo, Seville in the 11th century, which have been called 'botanical'.^[17] It has has also been suggested that the Spanish conquest of Mesoamerica influenced the history of botanical garden^[18] as gardens in Tenochtitlan, Nezahualcoyotl, Chalco and elsewhere greatly impressed the invaders as the Aztecs knew many more medicinal plants than did the classical world of Europe.^[19][20]

[edit] Physic gardens

Botanical gardens, in the modern sense, developed from physic gardens, whose main purpose was to grow herbs for medicinal use. Such gardens have a long history. In Europe, for example, Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) is said to have had a physic garden in the Lyceum at Athens, which was used for educational purposes and for the study of botany and this was inherited, or possibly set up, by his pupil Theophrastus, the “Father of Botany”.^[21]

Though these ancient gardens shared some of the characteristics of botanical gardens, the forerunners of modern botanic gardens are generally regarded as being the medieval monastic physic gardens that originated after the Roman period at the time of Charlemagne (742–789 CE).^[22] These contained a hortus, a garden used mostly for vegetables, and another section set aside for specially labeled medicinal plants and this was called the herbularis or hortus medicus – more generally known as a physic garden. These gardens were probably given impetus when Emperor Charlemagne issued a Capitulary of 73 herbs to be used in the physic gardens of his dominions. Many of these were found in British gardens even though they only occurred naturally in continental Europe, demonstrating earlier plant introduction.^[23] Certainly the founding of many early botanic gardens was instigated by members of the medical profession.^[24]

[edit] Sixteenth century European Gardens

If a botanical garden is defined by its scientific or academic connection then the first true botanical gardens were established with the revival of learning that occurred in the European Renaissance.

[edit] Origin in southern Europe

These gardens were associated with university faculties of medicine and were founded in Northern Italy at Pisa (1544), Padua (1545), Florence (1545) and Bologna (1568).^{[nb 3]} Here the physicians (referred to in English as apothecaries) delivered lectures on the mediterranean “simples” or “officinals” that were being cultivated in the grounds. Student education was no doubt stimulated by the relatively recent advent of printing and the publication of the first herbals.^[25] All of these botanic gardens still exist, mostly in their original locations.

[edit] Northern Europe

The tradition of these Italian gardens passed into northern Europe where similar gardens were established in the Netherlands (Leipzig, 1580; Leyden, 1587; Amsterdam, 1679), Germany (Tübingen, 1535; Zurich, 1560); Heidelberg, 1597; Hannover, 1666; Berlin, 1672), Switzerland (Basel, 1589); England (Oxford, 1621; Edinburgh, 1670; Chelsea Physic Garden, 1673), and in France (Montpellier, 1593; Paris, 1597; Jardin des Plantes, 1635), Denmark (Copenhagen, 1600); Sweden (Uppsala, 1655), and also in Spain (Valencia, 1567).

[edit] Seventeenth century

At the time of the foundation of these first botanic gardens botany had not become a distinct discipline but was simply a descriptive adjunct to medicine. However, it was in the 17th century that botanic gardens began their contribution to a deeper scientific curiosity about plants.

[edit] Beginnings of botanical science

During the 16th and 17th centuries the first plants were being imported to these major Western European gardens from Eastern Europe and nearby Asia (which provided many bulbs) and these found a place in the new botanic gardens where they could be conveniently studied by the plant experts of the day. For example, Asian introductions were described by Carolus Clusius (1526–1609) who was director, in turn, of the Vienna and Leyden botanic gardens. Clusius laid the foundations of Dutch tulip breeding and the bulb industry: he helped create one of the earliest formal botanical gardens of Europe at Leyden and his detailed planting lists have made it possible to recreate this garden near its original site. “The hortus medicus of Leyden in 1601 was a perfect square divided into quarters for the four continents, but by 1720 however it was a rambling system of beds, struggling to contain the novelties rushing in”^[26] and it became better known as a known as the hortus academicus. His Exoticorum libri decem (1605) is an important survey of exotic flora and fauna that is still consulted today.^[27] The inclusion of new plant introductions in botanic gardens meant that their scientific role was now widening as botany gradually asserted its independence from medicine.

In the mid to late 17th century the Paris Jardin des Plantes was a centre of interest with the greatest number of new introductions to attract the populace and in England the Chelsea Physic Garden was founded in 1673 as the "Garden of the Society of Apothecaries". The Chelsea garden had impressively heated greenhouses and in 1723 appointed Philip Miller (1722–1770) as head gardener. He he had a wide influence on both botany and horticulture as plants poured into Britain from round the world. This was the garden's golden age when, in the 18th century, it became the world’s most richly stocked botanic garden. Its seed-exchange program was established in 1682 and has lasted till the present day.^[28]

[edit] Eighteenth century

With the increase in maritime world trade ever more plants were being brought back to Europe as trophies from distant lands and these were triumphantly displayed in private estates of the wealthy, in commercial nurseries and in the public botanic gardens where the rewards of special horticultural and botanical collecting trips were evident for all to see. Heated conservatories called “orangeries”, like the one at Kew, became a feature of many botanic gardens.^[29] Western industrial expansion had resulted in new building skills so newly-introduced cold-sensitive plants were later overwintered in progressively elaborate and expensive heated conservatories and glasshouses.^{[nb 4]}

[edit] The Cape, Dutch East indies

The 18th century was marked by introductions from the Cape of South Africa — including ericas, geraniums, pelargoniums, succulents and proteaceous plants while the the Dutch trade with the East Indies resulted in a golden era for the Leiden and Amsterdam botanic gardens and a boom in the construction of conservatories.

[edit] Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The Royal Gardens at Kew were founded in 1760, initially as part of the Royal Garden set aside as a physic garden. William Aiton (1741–1793), the first Curator, was taught by garden chronicler Philip Miller of the Chelsea Physic Garden whose son Charles became first Curator of the original Cambridge Botanic Garden (1762).^[30] In 1759 the “Physick Garden” was planted and by 1767 it was claimed that “the Exotick Garden is by far the richest in Europe”.^[31] Gardens such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1759) and Oratava Acclimitization Garden (linked page in Spanish), Tenerife, Spain (1788) and the Madrid (1755) were set up to cultivate new species being returned from expeditions to the tropics; they also helped found new tropical botanic gardens. From the 1770s, following the example of the French and Spanish, amateur collectors were supplemented by official horticultural and botanical plant hunters.^[32] This was the great era of European, and especially British, imperialism which was "the means by which ideas, knowledge, styles of economy, politics and goods were given international reach"^[33] and justified as the spreading of “civilization” through “development” and “improvement”.^[34] At this time England was importing many woody plants from North America and the popularity of horticulture had increased enormously encouraged by the horticultural and botanical collecting expeditions overseas fostered by the directorship of Sir William Hooker and his keen interest in economic botany. At the end of the century Kew, under ther directorship of Sir Joseph Banks, enjoyed a golden age of plant hunting, sending out collectors – to the Cape, Australia, Chile, China, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Brazil and elsewhere,^[35] and acting as "the great botanical exchange house of the British empire".^[36] From its earliest days to the present Kew has in many ways exemplified botanic garden ideals and is respected world-wide for the published work of its scientists, the education of horticultural students, its public programs, and the scientific underpinning of its horticulture.^[37]

[edit] Plant classification

The large number of plants needing description were often listed in garden catalogues and it was at this time that Carl Linnaeus established the system of binomial nomenclature which greatly facilitated the listing process. Names of plants were authenticated by dried plant specimens mounted on card (a hortus siccus or garden of dried plants) that were stored in buildings called herbaria, these taxonomic research institutions being frequently associated with the botanic gardens, many of which now had “order beds” to display the classification systems being developed by botanists in the gardens' museums and herbaria. Botanic gardens had now become scientific collections as botanists published their descriptions of the new exotic plants, and these were also recorded for posterity in detail by superb botanical illustrations. In this century botanical gardens effectively lost their medicinal function to scientific and aesthetic priorities and the term botanic garden came to be more closely associated with the herbarium, library (and later laboratories) housed there than with the living collections – on which little research was undertaken.^[38]

[edit] Nineteenth century

The late 18th and early 19th centuries were marked by the establishment of tropical botanic gardens as a tool of colonial expansion (for trade and commerce and, secondarily, science) mainly by the British and Dutch, in India, South-east Asia and the Caribbean.^[39] This was also the time of Sir Joseph Banks botanical collections on Cook’s circumnavigations of the globe and his explorations of Oceania which formed the last phase of plant introduction on a grand scale.

[edit] Tropical botanic gardens

There are currently about 230 tropical botanic gardens with a concentration in south and south-east Asia.^[40] The first botanic garden founded in the tropics was the Pomplemousses garden in Mauritius established in 1735 to provide food for ships using the port, but later trialling and distributing many plants of economic importance. This was followed by the West Indies (St Vincent, 1764) and in 1786 by the Calcutta Botanical Garden in India founded during a period of prosperity when the city was a trading centre for the Dutch East India Company.^[41] Other gardens were constructed in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, 1808), Sri Lanka (Peradeniya, 1821 and on a site dating back to 1371), Indonesia (Bogor, Kebun Raya, 1817), Singapore (Singapore Botanical Gardens, 1822). These had a profound effect on the economy of the countries especially in relation to the foods and medicines introduced. The importation of rubber plants to the Singapore Botanic Garden initiated the important rubber industry of the Malayan Peninsula. At this time also teak and tea were introduced to India and breadfruit, pepper and star fruit to the Caribbean.^[42][43]

Included in the charter of these gardens was the investigation of the local flora for its economic potential to both the colonists and the local people. Many crop plants were introduced by or through these gardens – often in association with European botanic gardens such as Kew or Amsterdam – and included cloves, tea, coffee, breadfruit, cinchona, sugar, cotton, palm oil as well as chocolate.^[39] It was during these times that rubber was introduced to Singapore.^[44] In the tropics especially the larger gardens were frequently associated with a herbarium and economic museum.^[45] The Botanical Garden of Peradeniya had considerable influence on the development of agriculture in Sri Lanka where Para rubber (Hevea) was introduced from Kew which had imported the plant from South America.^[39] Other examples include cotton from the Chelsea Physic Garden to Georgia America in 1732 and tea into India by Calcutta Botanic Garden.^[46] The transfer of germplasm between the temperate and tropical botanic gardens was undoubtedly responsible for the range of agricultural crops currently used in several regions of the tropics.^[47]

[edit] Oceania

The first botanic gardens in Australia were founded in the early nineteenth century (Sydney, 1816; Hobart, 1818; Melbourne 1845; Adelaide, 1854; and Brisbane, 1855) where the tradition of acclimatization and economic exploitation were soon put into practice.^[48] To this list can be added major botanic gardens in New Zealand (Dunedin, 1863; Christchurch, 1863; Wellington, 1868) and South Africa (Kirstenbosch, 1913 (site dating to 1848)).

[edit] America and Russia

The first botanic garden in the United States, Bartram's Garden, was founded in 1730 near Philadelphia and in the same year the Linnean Botanic Garden at Philadelphia itself.^[49] In 1859 the Missouri Botanical Garden was founded at St Louis and is now one of the world’s leading gardens specializing in tropical plants.^[49] This was one of several popular American gardens including Longwood Gardens (1798), Arnold Arboretum (1872), New York Botanical Garden (1891), Huntington Botanical Gardens (1906), Brooklyn Botanic Garden (1910), and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (1938).

Russia has more botanic gardens than any other country with a major botanic garden in every republic, each with many satellite gardens. Better known gardens are found in: Yalta, 1812; Kiev, 1939; and Moscow, 1945.

In all gardens there was a heightened interest in structures including sculptures, pavilions, bandstands, memorials, shade houses, tea houses and the like.

[edit] Twentieth century

[edit] Civic & Municipal botanic gardens

A large number of civic or municipal botanic gardens were founded in the 19th and 20th century. These did not develop scientific facilities or programs but the horticultural aspects were strong and the plants often labeled. They were botanic gardens in the sense of building up collections of plants and exchanging seed with other gardens around the world although the collection policies were determined by those in day-to-day charge of the gardens. These tended to become little more than beautifully maintained parks and were, indeed, often under general parks administrations.^[50]

[edit] Community engagement

The second half of the twentieth century saw increasingly sophisticated educational, visitor service and interpretational services. Botanic gardens were now catering for many interests and their displays reflected this, often including botanical exhibits on evolutionary, ecological or taxonomic themes, horticultural displays of attractive borders and bedding plants, plants from different geographic areas of the world, special collections of plant groups like bamboos or roses, specialist glasshouse collections such as tropical or alpine plants, cacti and orchids, as well as the traditional herb gardens and medicinal plants. Specialized gardens like the Palmengarten in Frankfurt (1869), one of the world's leading orchid and succulent collections, have been very popular.^[7] There was a renewed interest in native plant gardens and areas dedicated to natural vegetation.

With decreasing financial support there was an increase in revenue-raising public entertainment including music, art exhibitions, special botanical exhibitions, theatre and film, this being supplemented by the advent of “Friends” organizations and the use of voluntary guides.^[51]

[edit] Plant conservation

A growing sense of urgency about plant conservation and the heritage value of exceptional historic landscapes. Satellite gardens were sometimes set up to display native and indigenous plants.^[52]

In the 1970s gardens became focused on the plant conservation. The Botanic Gardens Conservation Secretariat was established by the IUCN, the World Conservation Union in 1987 with the aim of coordinating the plant conservation efforts of botanic gardens around the world. It maintains a database of rare and endangered species in botanic gardens' living collections. Many gardens hold ex situ conservation collections that preserve genetic variation. These may be held as: seeds dried and stored at low temperature, or in tissue culture, like the Kew Millennium Seedbank; as living plants, including those that are of special horticultural, historical or scientific interest like those held by the NCCPG in Britain; by managing and preserving areas of natural vegetation. Collections hels in cultivation are often held with the intention of reintroducing the plants to the wild.^[53] At St Louis the Center for Plant Conservation coordinates the conservation of native American species.^[54][55]

[edit] Role and functions of botanic gardens

Many of the functions of botanic gardens have already been dealt with in the definitions section which emphasized the scientific underpinning of botanic gardens with their focus on research, education and conservation. However, as multifaceted organizations, each site has its own special interests. In a remarkable paper on the role of botanic gardens Ferdinand Mueller (1825–1896), Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne (1852– 1873), stated that "in all cases the objects [of a botanic garden] must be mainly scientific and predominantly instructive". He then detailed many of the objectives that were being pursued by the world's botanic gardens in the middle of the 19th century when European gardens were at their zenith. These are listed here to give a sense of the scope of botanic gardens activities at that time, and the ways in which they differed from parks or what he called "public pleasure gardens":^[56]

availability of plants for scientific research display of plant diversity in form and use display of plants of particular regions (including local) plants sometimes grown within their particular families plants grown for their seed or rarity major timber trees plants of economic significance glasshouse plants of different climates all plants accurately labelled records kept of plants and their performance

catalogues of holdings published periodically research facilities utilising the living collections studies in plant taxonomy examples of different vegetation types student education a herbarium selection and introduction of ornamental & other plants to commerce studies of plant chemistry report on the effects of plants on livestock at least one collector maintained in the "field"

Botanic gardens must find a compromise between the demand, on the one hand, for peace and seclusion and, on the other, for information and visitor services such as restaurants, information centres and sales areas that accrue rubbish, noise and ‘hype’. ‘Artistic’ landscape and planting design sometimes competes with scientific interests for attention with the latter now often taking second place. Many gardens are now heritage landscapes that are subject to constant demand for new exhibits. Many gardens now have have plant shops selling flower, herb, and vegetable seedlings suitable for transplantation and some gardens, like 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.

[edit] Future

Botanic gardens continue to be built. The first botanic garden in Oman which will be one of the largest gardens in the world. Once it is completed and will house the first large scale internal fog-forest in a huge glasshouse.^[42] There has been a remarkable development of botanic gardens in China over recent years including the Hainan Botanical Garden of Tropical Economic Plants^[57] South China Botanical Garden at Guangzhou, the Xishuangbanna Botanical Garden of Tropical Plants and the Xiamen Botanic Garden^[58] but in developed countries many have closed due to lack of support, this being especially true of university botanic gardens which do not have adequate separate funding.^[59]

Botanic gardens have always responded to the interests and values of the day. If a single function were to be chosen from the early literature on botanic gardens it would be their scientific endeavour and, flowing from this, their instructive value. In their formative years botanic gardens were gardens for physicians and botanists but historically they became progressively associated more with ornamental horticulture and the general public. It is by the publications coming out of herbaria and similar facilities by which the scientific reputation of a botanic garden is now judged, not by its living collections.^[60] The interest in economic plants now has less relevance, and the concern with plant classification systems has all but disappeared, while a fascination with the curious, beautiful and new seems unlikely to diminish. They do provide an excellent mechanism for much-needed communication between the world of science and the general public.

In recent times the focus has been on creating awareness of the plight of natural systems collapsing under the weight of increasing human numbers and their consumption of biophysical resources. Botanic gardens provide an excellent communication channel between the world of science and the general public, schools and the media. Education programs can assist the public in developing greater environmental awareness by understanding the meaning and importance of ideas like conservation and sustainability.^[61]

[edit] See also

• List of botanical gardens
• Plant collecting
• PlantCollections (a database)
• US
• UK

[edit] References

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ The terms ’’botanic’’ and ‘’botanical’’, and ‘’garden’’ or ‘’gardens’’ are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ‘’botanic’’ is generally reserved for the earlier more traditional gardens.
2. ^ A botanical garden containing mainly trees is generally called an arboretum, pl. arboreta.
3. ^ Precise dating for the foundation of botanic gardens is often difficult as government decrees may be issued some time before land is acquired and planting begins, or existing gardens may be relocated to new sites, or previously existing gardens may be taken over and converted.
4. ^ Glasshouses built to overwinter tender evergreen shrubs, known as ‘greens’, were called greenhouses, a name that is still used today.

[edit] Bibliography

• Aitken, Richard & Looker, Michael 2002. The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195536444.
• Bailey, Liberty Hyde and Ethel Z. 1978. Hortus Third. New York: Macmillan.
• Brockway, Lucille H. 1979. Science and Colonial Expansion. London: Academic Press. ISBN 012134150X.
• Desmond, Ray 2007. The History of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. London: Kew Publishing. ISBN 9781842461686.
• Drayton, Richard 2000. Nature's Government: Science, Imperial Britain, and the 'Improvement' of the World. London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300059760.
• Guerra, Francisco 1966. Aztec Medicine. Medical History 10(4): 315–338. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
• Heywood, Vernon H. 1987. The changing rôle of the botanic gardens. In Bramwell, David et al. (eds), “Botanic Gardens and the World Conservation Strategy.” pp. 3–18. London: Academic Press. ISBN 0121254623.
• Hepper, F. Nigel 1986. Botanical Garden. In Jellicoe, Geoffrey et al. (eds), The Oxford Companion to Gardens, pp. 67–68. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198661231.
• Heutte, Fred 1972. A New Concept: the Commercial Botanical Garden. American Horticulturist 51(2): 14–17.
• Hill, Arthur W. 1915. The History and Functions of Botanic Gardens. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 2: 185–240.
• Holmes, Edward M. 1906. Horticulture in Relation to Medicine. Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society 31: 42–61.
• Holttum, Richard E. 1970. The Historical Significance of Botanic Gardens in S.E. Asia. Taxon 19(5): 134–147.
• Howard, Richard A. 1969. The Botanical Garden – an Unexploited Source of Information. Boissiera 14: 109–118.
• Huxley, Anthony (ed. in chief) 1992. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. 4 vols. London: Macmillan.
• Hyams, Edward & MacQuitty, William 1969. Great Botanical Gardens of the World. London: Bloomsbury Books. ISBN 0906223733.
• Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium 1976. Hortus Third. New York: MacMillan.
• Minter, Sue 2000. The Apothecaries' Garden. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 9780750924498.
• Mueller, Ferdinand von 1871. The objects of a botanic garden in relation to industries : a lecture delivered at the Industrial and Technological Museum. Melbourne: Mason, Firth & McCutcheon.
• Ogilvie, Brian W. 2006. The Science of Describing: Natural History in Renaissance Europe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226620879.
• Purseglove, John W. 1959. History and functions of botanic gardens with special reference to Singapore. Gardeners’ Bulletin, Singapore 17(2): 125–154.
• Raven, Peter H. 1981. Research in Botanic Gardens. Botanischer Jahrbucher 102: 53–72.
• Simmons, John B. et al. (eds) 1976. Conservation of Threatened Plants. London: Plenum Press. ISBN 0306328011.
• Stafleu, Frans A. 1969. Botanic Gardens Before 1818. Boissiera 14: 31–46.
• Taylor, Patrick 2006. The Oxford Companion to the Garden. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198662556.
• Thanos, Costas A. 2005. The Geography of Theophrastus’ Life and of his Botanical Writings. In Karamanos, Andreas J. & Thanos, Costas A. (eds) Περι Φυτων, Biodiversity and Natural Heritage in the Aegean, Proceedings of the Conference ‘Theophrastus 2000’ (Eressos - Sigri, Lesbos, July 6-8, 2000, pp. 23-45). Athens: Frangoudis. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
• Wyse Jackson, Peter S.& Sutherland, L.A. 2000. International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation. Richmond, UK: Botanic Gardens Conservation International. ISBN 0952027593. Retrieved: 2009-11-30.
• Wyse Jackson, Peter S. 1999. Experimentation on a Large Scale—An Analysis of the Holdings and Resources of Botanic Gardens. BGCNews 3(3): Richmond, UK: Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
• Young, Michael 1987. Collins Guide to the Botanical Gardens of Britain. London: Collins. ISBN 0002182130.

[edit] Further reading

• Johnson, Dale E. 1985. Literature on the history of botany and botanic gardens 1730–1840: A bibliography. Huntia 6(1): 1–121.

[edit] External links

• Botanic Gardens Conservation International The World's Largest Plant Conservation Network, working with 800 Botanic Gardens Worldwide.
• Botanical Garden

[edit] Photo gallery

Seiwa-en Japanese Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden, USA	Inside Kew Gardens Palm House, England	The Botanical Garden of Curitiba, Southern Brazil	The New Brunswick Botanical Garden, Canada
A botanical garden of Kitchener's Island, Aswan, Egypt	University of British Columbia Botanical Garden, Canada	Inside the Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra, Portugal	Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, Australia
The Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando, Florida, USA	Palmhouse, Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, Scotland	Lake in Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Botanical Garden, near Calcutta, India	Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, South Africa