86-496: Public Garden may refer to: Boston Public Garden Public Garden (EP) Public Gardens, Hyderabad , India Cognac Public Garden , Cognac, France Halifax Public Gardens , Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Huangpu Park , Shanghai, China, formerly known as the Public Garden See also [ edit ] Garden (disambiguation) Urban park Topics referred to by
172-482: 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 . These were secular gardens attached to universities and medical schools, used as resources for teaching and research. The superintendents of these gardens were often professors of botany with international reputations,
258-403: 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
344-524: A factor that probably contributed to the creation of botany as an independent discipline rather than a descriptive adjunct to medicine. The botanical gardens of Southern Europe were associated with university faculties of medicine and were founded in Italy at Orto botanico di Pisa (1544), Orto botanico di Padova (1545), Orto Botanico di Firenze (1545), Orto Botanico dell'Università di Pavia (1558) and Orto Botanico dell'Università di Bologna (1568). Here
430-524: A period of prosperity when the city was a trading centre for the Dutch East India Company . Other gardens were constructed in Brazil ( Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden , 1808), Sri Lanka ( Botanic Gardens of Peradeniya , 1821 and on a site dating back to 1371), Indonesia ( Bogor Botanical Gardens , 1817 and Kebun Raya Cibodas , 1852), and Singapore ( Singapore Botanical Gardens , 1822). These had
516-586: A profound effect on the economy of the countries, especially in relation to the foods and medicines introduced. The importation of rubber trees to the Singapore Botanic Garden initiated the important rubber industry of the Malay Peninsula . At this time also, teak and tea were introduced to India and breadfruit , pepper and starfruit to the Caribbean. Included in the charter of these gardens
602-457: A wide influence on both botany and horticulture, as plants poured into it from around the world. The garden's golden age came in the 18th century, when it became the world's most richly stocked botanical garden. Its seed-exchange programme was established in 1682 and still continues today. With the increase in maritime trade , ever more plants were being brought back to Europe as trophies from distant lands, and these were triumphantly displayed in
688-470: A year. Historically, botanical gardens exchanged plants through the publication of seed lists (these were called Latin : Indices Seminae in the 18th century). This was a means of transferring both plants and information between botanical gardens. This system continues today, although the possibility of genetic piracy and the transmission of invasive species has received greater attention in recent times. The International Association of Botanic Gardens
774-483: Is closely linked to the history of botany itself. The botanical gardens of the 16th and 17th centuries were medicinal gardens, but the idea of a botanical garden changed to encompass displays of the beautiful, strange, new and sometimes economically important plant trophies being returned from the European colonies and other distant lands. Later, in the 18th century, they became more educational in function, demonstrating
860-496: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Boston Public Garden The Public Garden , also known as Boston Public Garden , is a large park in the heart of Boston , Massachusetts , adjacent to Boston Common . It is a part of the Emerald Necklace system of parks and is bounded by Charles Street and Boston Common to the east, Beacon Street and Beacon Hill to
946-511: Is inside the Parque La Carolina is a 165.5-acre (670,000 m ) park in the centre of the Quito central business district , bordered by the avenues Río Amazonas, de los Shyris, Naciones Unidas, Eloy Alfaro, and de la República. The botanical garden of Quito is a park, a botanical garden, an arboretum and greenhouses of 18,600 square meters that is planned to increase, maintain the plants of
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#17328490717611032-596: Is now the Boston Public Garden. Nonetheless, there was constant pressure for the land to be sold to private interests for the construction of new housing. The year that Boston's Public Garden opened, Mr. John Fottler Sr., dubbed "the Father of Our Parks", delivered the first load of plants ever set at the gardens, from the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder of Dorchester. While most of the land of the present-day garden had been filled in by
1118-663: Is respected worldwide for the published work of its scientists, the education of horticultural students, its public programmes, and the scientific underpinning of its horticulture. In 1728, John Bartram founded Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia , one of the continent's first botanical gardens. The garden is now managed as a historical site that includes a few original and many modern specimens as well as extensive archives and restored historical farm buildings. The large number of plants needing description were often listed in garden catalogues; and at this time Carl Linnaeus established
1204-620: Is the Swan Boats , which began operating in 1877. For a small fee, tourists can sit on a boat ornamented with a white swan at the rear. The boat is then pedaled around the pond by a tour guide sitting within the swan. Since 2020, no real swans have lived in the pond. Although, there have been pairs of swans in the past. The most recent pair were mute swans named Romeo and Juliet after the Shakespearian couple , despite both being female. Being no more than three feet deep at its deepest point,
1290-1081: Is the acquisition and dissemination of botanical knowledge. A contemporary botanic garden is a strictly protected green area, where a managing organization creates landscaped gardens and holds documented collections of living plants and/or preserved plant accessions containing functional units of heredity of actual or potential value for purposes such as scientific research, education, public display, conservation, sustainable use, tourism and recreational activities, production of marketable plant-based products and services for improvement of human well-being. Worldwide, there are now about 1800 botanical gardens and arboreta in about 150 countries (mostly in temperate regions) of which about 550 are in Europe (150 of which are in Russia ), 200 in North America , and an increasing number in East Asia. These gardens attract about 300 million visitors
1376-473: Is their mandate as a botanical garden that plants are labelled with their botanical names . It may contain specialist plant collections such as cacti and other succulent plants , herb gardens , plants from particular parts of the world, and so on; there may be glasshouses or shadehouses , again with special collections such as tropical plants , alpine plants , or other exotic plants that are not native to that region. Most are at least partly open to
1462-546: 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 staff will normally include botanists as well as gardeners. Many botanical gardens offer diploma/certificate programs in horticulture, botany and taxonomy. There are many internship opportunities offered to aspiring horticulturists. As well as opportunities for students/researchers to use
1548-468: The Beacon Hill Garden Club . Notes Bibliography Further reading 42°21′15″N 71°4′12″W / 42.35417°N 71.07000°W / 42.35417; -71.07000 Botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic garden is a garden with a documented collection of living plants for the purpose of scientific research, conservation, display, and education. It
1634-568: The Boston Common , the parks form the northern terminus of the Emerald Necklace , a long string of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted . While the Common is primarily unstructured open space, the Public Garden contains a pond and a large series of formal plantings that are maintained by the city and others and vary from season to season. Mostly flat and varying in elevation by less than five feet,
1720-651: The Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna and Hortus Botanicus Leiden . Many plants were being collected from the Near East , especially bulbous plants from Turkey . Clusius laid the foundations of Dutch tulip breeding and the bulb industry, and he helped create one of the earliest formal botanical gardens of Europe at Leyden where his detailed planting lists have made it possible to recreate this garden near its original site. The hortus medicus of Leyden in 1601
1806-600: The Friends of the Public Garden . On January 6, 1913, the City Council placed the garden, along with the Boston Common , under the direct management of the Public Grounds Department of the city. That department declared walking upon the grass of the Common or garden to be illegal, and arrests were made for that offense until at least the 1960s. Today, sitting on the grass is permitted except for specific sections of
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#17328490717611892-835: The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation by producing a range resources and publications, and by organizing international conferences and conservation programs. Communication also happens regionally. In the United States, there is the American Public Gardens Association (formerly the American Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta), and in Australasia there is the Botanic Gardens of Australia and New Zealand (BGANZ). The history of botanical gardens
1978-799: The Government Hill in Victoria City , Hong Kong Island . The Koishikawa Botanical Garden in Tokyo, with its origin going back to the Tokugawa shogunate 's ownership, became in 1877 part of the Tokyo Imperial University . In Sri Lanka major botanical gardens include the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya (formally established in 1843), Hakgala Botanical Gardens (1861) and Henarathgoda Botanical Garden (1876). Jardín Botánico de Quito
2064-968: The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens , 1818; the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne , 1845; Adelaide Botanic Gardens , 1854; and Brisbane Botanic Gardens , 1855. These were established essentially as colonial gardens of economic botany and acclimatisation. The Auburn Botanical Gardens , 1977, located in Sydney's western suburbs , are one of the popular and diverse botanical gardens in the Greater Western Sydney area. Major botanical gardens in New Zealand include Dunedin Botanic Gardens , 1863; Christchurch Botanic Gardens , 1863; Ōtari-Wilton's Bush , 1926; and Wellington Botanic Gardens , 1868. Hong Kong Botanic Gardens , 1871 (renamed Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens in 1975), up from
2150-498: The "Father of Botany". There is some debate among science historians whether this garden was ordered and scientific enough to be considered "botanical", and suggest it more appropriate to attribute the earliest known botanical garden in Europe to the botanist and pharmacologist Antonius Castor , mentioned by Pliny the Elder in the 1st century. Though these ancient gardens shared some of
2236-408: 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 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
2322-665: The British and Dutch, in India , South-east Asia and the Caribbean . This was also the time of Sir Joseph Banks 's botanical collections during Captain James Cook 's circumnavigations of the planet and his explorations of Oceania , which formed the last phase of plant introduction on a grand scale. There are currently about 230 tropical botanical gardens with a concentration in southern and south-eastern Asia. The first botanical garden founded in
2408-599: The Chelsea Physic Garden to the Province of Georgia in 1732 and tea into India by Calcutta Botanic Garden. The transfer of germplasm between the temperate and tropical botanical gardens was undoubtedly responsible for the range of agricultural crops currently used in several regions of the tropics. The first botanical gardens in Australia were founded early in the 19th century. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney , 1816;
2494-511: The Christian conquest in 1085 CE. Ibn Bassal then founded a garden in Seville, most of its plants being collected on a botanical expedition that included Morocco, Persia, Sicily, and Egypt. The medical school of Montpelier was also founded by Spanish Arab physicians, and by 1250 CE, it included a physic garden, but the site was not given botanic garden status until 1593. Botanical gardens, in
2580-703: The Common. The Public Garden is managed jointly between the Mayor's Office, The Parks Department of the City of Boston, and the non-profit Friends of the Public Garden . It was designated a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission in 1977 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. The song Twilight in Boston by Jonathan Richman mentions the Garden (track in the album I, Jonathan ). Together with
2666-508: The Common. As a result, there was often a thick slime present in the pond, and an accompanying stench. Consequently, the caretakers of the garden drain and clean the pond annually. Permanent flower plantings in the garden include numerous varieties of roses, bulbs, and flowering shrubs. The beds flanking the central pathway are replanted on a rotating schedule throughout the year, with different flowers for each season from mid-spring through early autumn. Plantings are supplied from 14 greenhouses
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2752-1009: The Netherlands ( Hortus Botanicus Leiden , 1590; Hortus Botanicus (Amsterdam) , 1638), Germany ( Alter Botanischer Garten Tübingen , 1535; Leipzig Botanical Garden , 1580; Botanischer Garten Jena , 1586; Botanischer Garten Heidelberg , 1593; Herrenhäuser Gärten, Hanover , 1666; Botanischer Garten der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel , 1669; Botanical Garden in Berlin , 1672), Switzerland ( Old Botanical Garden, Zürich , 1560; Basel , 1589); England ( University of Oxford Botanic Garden , 1621; Chelsea Physic Garden , 1673); Scotland ( Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh , 1670); and in France ( Jardin des plantes de Montpellier , 1593; Faculty of Medicine Garden, Paris, 1597; Jardin des Plantes , Paris, 1635), Denmark ( University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden , 1600); Sweden ( Uppsala University , 1655). During
2838-571: The Public Garden from the Common. The greenway connecting the Public Garden with the rest of the Emerald Necklace is the strip of park that runs west down the center of Commonwealth Avenue towards the Back Bay Fens and the Muddy River . During the warmer seasons, the 4 acres (16,000 m ) pond is the home of a great many ducks, as well as of one or more swans . A popular tourist attraction
2924-690: The Public Garden: The park is maintained by the City of Boston, which in 2005 spent $ 1.2 million to keep up its three parks. The city's efforts are supplemented by a charitable organization known as the Friends of the Public Garden , also known as the Rose Brigade . The charity helped finance the repair of the Ether Monument in 2006, and hires specialists to help care for the trees and bushes. Volunteers meet regularly to prune and maintain bushes. Financial support also comes from private sources such as
3010-716: The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1759) and Orotava Acclimatization Garden (in Spanish) , Tenerife (1788) and the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid (1755) were set up to cultivate new species returned from expeditions to the tropics; they also helped found new tropical botanical gardens. From the 1770s, following the example of the French and Spanish , amateur collectors were supplemented by official horticultural and botanical plant hunters. These botanical gardens were boosted by
3096-521: 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). In 1759, the "Physick Garden" was planted, and by 1767, it was claimed that "the Exotick Garden is by far the richest in Europe". Gardens such as
3182-614: The Spanish invaders, not only with their appearance, but also because the indigenous Aztecs employed many more medicinal plants than did the classical world of Europe. Early medieval gardens in Islamic Spain resembled botanic gardens of the future, an example being the 11th-century Huerta del Rey garden of physician and author Ibn Wafid (999–1075 CE) in Toledo . This was later taken over by garden chronicler Ibn Bassal (fl. 1085 CE) until
3268-481: The Vatican grounds in 1447, for a garden of medicinal plants that were used to promote the teaching of botany, and this was a forerunner to the University gardens at Padua and Pisa established in the 1540s. Certainly the founding of many early botanic gardens was instigated by members of the medical profession. In the 17th century, botanical gardens began their contribution to a deeper scientific curiosity about plants. If
3354-488: The aesthetics of the place. But as electric lighting replaced gas lighting, and vandalism of the garden – such as the theft and destruction of its flowers – was a growing concern, electric lighting was eventually installed throughout. In the early 20th century, baby alligators were kept in a basin near the Commonwealth Avenue entrance; they were fed live rats and mice by local residents. A flagpole stands today on
3440-524: The amount of soil necessary (approximately 9,000 cu yd (6,900 m ), weighing 14,000 short tons (13,000,000 kg)) prevented the work from being undertaken. This finally changed in the summer of 1895, when the required quantity of soil was made available as a result of the excavation of the Tremont Street Subway and was used to regrade the Charles Street sides of both the Garden and
3526-473: The basin (which was controlled by the then-independent city of Roxbury ), in hopes of generating significant revenue from any developments that would be built after filling it in. When the state commission rejected Boston's petition, the Boston City Council threatened to sell the garden to housing developers, which would have significantly reduced the desirability of the area for the upper-class elite that
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3612-475: The characteristics of present-day botanical gardens, the forerunners of modern botanical gardens are generally regarded as being the medieval monastic physic gardens that originated after the decline of the Roman Empire at the time of Emperor Charlemagne (742–789 CE). These contained a hortus , a garden used mostly for vegetables, and another section set aside for specially labelled medicinal plants and this
3698-476: The city forester, decided to sever the connection with the land. The 24 acres (97,000 m ) landscape was designed by George F. Meacham . The paths and flower beds were laid out by the city engineer, James Slade, and the forester, John Galvin. The plan for the garden included a number of fountains and statues, many of which were erected in the late 1860s. The most notable statue is perhaps that of George Washington , done in 1869 by Thomas Ball , which dominates
3784-520: The city operates at Franklin Park for the purpose. The Public Garden is planted with a wide assortment of native and introduced trees; prominent among these are the weeping willows around the shore of the lagoon and the European and American elms that line the garden's pathways, along with horse chestnuts , dawn redwoods , European beeches , ginkgo trees, and one California redwood . Other notable trees include: Several statues are located throughout
3870-442: The classification systems being developed by botanists in the gardens' museums and herbaria. Botanical 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 dropped their medicinal function in favour of scientific and aesthetic priorities, and
3956-405: The collection for their studies. The origin of modern botanical gardens is generally traced to the appointment of botany professors to the medical faculties of universities in 16th-century Renaissance Italy, which also entailed curating a medicinal garden . However, the objectives, content, and audience of today's botanic gardens more closely resembles that of the grandiose gardens of antiquity and
4042-481: The detailed plan for the Garden to the Committee on the Common and Public Squares and received approval. Construction began quickly on the property, with the pond being finished that year and the wrought iron fence surrounding the perimeter erected in 1862. Today the north side of the pond has a small island, but it originally was a peninsula, connected to the land. The site became so popular with lovers that John Galvin,
4128-406: The eastern side of the garden, close to Charles Street and just south of the main entrance there. The original flagpole was struck by lightning and destroyed in 1918, and in 1920 the city appropriated $ 2,500 for construction of a new one. In 1982, the city granted an additional $ 25,000 for improvements to the flagpole. A circular granite bench was installed around the pole, with the work being done by
4214-477: The educational garden of Theophrastus in the Lyceum of ancient Athens. The early concern with medicinal plants changed in the 17th century to an interest in the new plant imports from explorations outside Europe as botany gradually established its independence from medicine. In the 18th century, systems of nomenclature and classification were devised by botanists working in the herbaria and universities associated with
4300-529: The end of the 18th century, Kew, under the directorship of Sir Joseph Banks , enjoyed a golden age of plant hunting, sending out collectors to the South African Cape , Australia , Chile , China , Ceylon , Brazil , and elsewhere, and acting as "the great botanical exchange house of the British Empire ". From its earliest days to the present, Kew has in many ways exemplified botanic garden ideals, and
4386-512: The flora being sent back to Europe from various European colonies around the globe . At this time, British horticulturalists were importing many woody plants from Britain's colonies in 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 Jackson Hooker and his keen interest in economic botany . At
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#17328490717614472-493: The garden is designed in the style of an English landscape garden . A straight pathway, including a bridge that crosses over its pond, spans the two main entrances of Charles and Arlington streets; but its pathways are otherwise winding and asymmetrical. The Public Garden is rectangular in shape and is bounded on the south by Boylston Street , on the west by Arlington Street, and on the north by Beacon Street where it faces Beacon Hill . On its east side, Charles Street divides
4558-434: The gardens, these systems often being displayed in the gardens as educational "order beds ". With the rapid expansion of European colonies around the globe in the late 18th century, botanic gardens were established in the tropics, and economic botany became a focus with the hub at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew , near London. Over the years, botanical gardens, as cultural and scientific organisations, have responded to
4644-467: The hill to the landfill area by handcart. By 1804, a gravity railroad had been constructed to rapidly bring material from the top of the hill to the marsh; today, Mount Vernon no longer exists, having been completely removed to be used as landfill for the Back Bay. In February 1824, the city of Boston purchased back the land granted to the ropemakers, for a cost of $ 50,000. The next year, a proposal to turn
4730-488: The interests of botany and horticulture . Nowadays, most botanical 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 being faced at the start of the 21st century, especially those relating to plant conservation and sustainability . The "New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening" (1999) points out that among
4816-526: The land into a graveyard was defeated by a vote of 1632 to 176. The Public Garden was established in 1837, when philanthropist Horace Gray petitioned for the use of land as the first public botanical garden in the United States . By 1839, a corporation was formed, called Horace Gray and Associates, and made the "Proprietors of the Botanic Garden in Boston." The corporation was chartered with creating what
4902-578: The land on July 30, 1794, after a fire had destroyed the ropewalks in a more populated area of the city. As a condition of its use, the ropewalk's proprietors were required to build a seawall and fill in the land which is now Charles Street and the land immediately bordering it (now a part of the Public Garden). Much of the landfill material came from Mount Vernon, formerly a hill in the Beacon Hill area of Boston. Initially, gravel and soil were brought from
4988-599: The latest plant classification systems devised by botanists working in the associated herbaria as they tried to order these new treasures. Then, in the 19th and 20th centuries, the trend was towards a combination of specialist and eclectic collections demonstrating many aspects of both horticulture and botany. The idea of "scientific" gardens used specifically for the study of plants dates back to antiquity. Near-eastern royal gardens set aside for economic use or display and containing at least some plants gained by special collecting trips or military campaigns abroad, are known from
5074-414: The lawn where a posted sign forbids access. In 2008 an automated sprinkler system was installed at a cost of $ 800,000. Heavy foot traffic, a multitude of plant types, the garden's historical and cultural importance, and a variety of microclimates increased the complexity of the automated system. Originally, the Charles Street side of the Public Garden (along with the adjacent portions of Boston Common)
5160-399: The mid-1800s, the area of the Back Bay remained an undeveloped tidal basin. In 1842, the state legislature created The Commissioners on Boston Harbor and the Back Bay, in order to determine how to best develop the land; the state wanted to control the lands and to build an upper-class neighborhood in the area beyond the Public Garden. The City of Boston petitioned the state to grant control over
5246-504: The modern sense, developed from physic gardens , whose main purpose was to cultivate herbs for medical use as well as research and experimentation. Such gardens have a long history. In Europe, for example, Aristotle (384 BCE – 322 BCE) 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 ,
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#17328490717615332-458: The north, Arlington Street and Back Bay to the west, and Boylston Street to the south. The Public Garden was the first public botanical garden in America. Boston's Back Bay , including the land the garden sits on, was mudflats until filling began in the early 1800s. The land of the Public Garden was the earliest filled, as the area that is now Charles Street had been used as a ropewalk since 1796. The town of Boston granted ropemakers use of
5418-541: 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. All of these botanical gardens still exist, mostly in their original locations. The tradition of these Italian gardens passed into Spain Botanical Garden of Valencia , 1567) and Northern Europe , where similar gardens were established in
5504-446: The pond easily freezes during the colder months. In 1879, the Boston City Council passed an order to maintain the pond for skating during the winter; today, there is an official skating rink maintained at Frog Pond on the Common, instead. The pond represented a significant health concern shortly after it was constructed, as it was fed by a combination of salt water from the Charles River , sewer water, and fresh water from Frog Pond in
5590-447: The private estates of the wealthy, in commercial nurseries , and in the public botanical gardens. Heated conservatories called " orangeries ", such as the one at Kew, became a feature of many botanical gardens. Industrial expansion in Europe and North America resulted in new building skills, so plants sensitive to cold were kept over winter in progressively elaborate and expensive heated conservatories and glasshouses. The 18th century
5676-461: The public for the purposes of recreation, education and research." The term tends to be used somewhat differently in different parts of the world. For example a large woodland garden with a good collection of rhododendron and other flowering tree and shrub species is very likely to present itself as a "botanical garden" if it is located in the US, but very unlikely to do so if in the UK (unless it also contains other relevant features). Very few of
5762-454: The public, and may offer guided tours, public programming such as workshops, courses, educational displays, art exhibitions , book rooms, open-air theatrical and musical performances, and other entertainment. Botanical gardens are often run by universities or other scientific research organizations, and often have associated herbaria and research programmes in plant taxonomy or some other aspect of botanical science. In principle, their role
5848-740: The purposes of scientific research, conservation, display and education." The following definition was produced by staff of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium of Cornell University in 1976. It covers in some detail the many functions and activities generally associated with botanical gardens: 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
5934-442: The rubber plant was introduced to Singapore. Especially in the tropics, the larger gardens were frequently associated with a herbarium and museum of economy. The Botanical Garden of Peradeniya had considerable influence on the development of agriculture in Ceylon where the Para rubber tree ( Hevea brasiliensis ) was introduced from Kew, which had itself imported the plant from South America . Other examples include cotton from
6020-422: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Public Garden . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Public_Garden&oldid=920556930 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
6106-498: The second millennium BCE in ancient Egypt , Mesopotamia , Crete , Mexico and China . In about 2800 BCE, the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung sent collectors to distant regions searching for plants with economic or medicinal value. It has also been suggested that the Spanish colonization of Mesoamerica influenced the history of the botanical garden as gardens in Tenochtitlan established by king Nezahualcoyotl , also gardens in Chalco (altépetl) and elsewhere, greatly impressed
6192-473: The sites used for the UK's dispersed National Plant Collection , usually holding large collections of a particular taxonomic group, would call themselves "botanic gardens". This has been further reduced by Botanic Gardens Conservation International to the following definition which "encompasses the spirit of a true botanic garden": "A botanic garden is an institution holding documented collections of living plants for
6278-595: The state was hoping to attract. The conflict between the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was finally resolved when the Tripartite Indenture of 1856 was agreed to by both parties and passed a general vote of citizens 6,287 to 99. In the agreement, Boston gave up its rights to build upon the Public Garden; in return, it received a strip of land which is now a part of the garden, abutting Arlington Street. In October 1859, Alderman Crane submitted
6364-404: 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 botanical gardens, many of which by then had "order beds" to display
6450-417: 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. The late 18th and early 19th centuries were marked by the establishment of tropical botanical gardens as a tool of colonial expansion (for trade and commerce and, secondarily, science) mainly by
6536-401: 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 may be an independent institution, a governmental operation, or affiliated to a college or university. If
6622-790: The tropics was the Pamplemousses Botanical 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 ( Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Botanic Gardens , 1764) and in 1786 by the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Botanical Garden in Calcutta , India founded during
6708-510: The various kinds of organizations known as botanical gardens, there are many that are in modern times public gardens with little scientific activity, and it cited a tighter definition 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
6794-437: The western entrance to the park facing Commonwealth Avenue . The signature suspension bridge over the middle of the pond was erected in 1867. Gas lamps were originally used to light the garden at night, but in 1883, construction of electric lamps was begun. There was initially concern over the use of electric lamps, as it would require wires to be run through the garden, and some members of government feared that it would harm
6880-439: Was a perfect square divided into quarters for the four continents, but by 1720, though, it was a rambling system of beds, struggling to contain the novelties rushing in, and it became better known as the hortus academicus . His Exoticorum libri decem (1605) is an important survey of exotic plants and animals that is still consulted today. The inclusion of new plant introductions in botanic gardens meant their scientific role
6966-552: Was called the herbularis or hortus medicus —more generally known as a physic garden, and a viridarium or orchard. These gardens were probably given impetus when Charlemagne issued a capitulary , the Capitulary de Villis, which listed 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. Pope Nicholas V set aside part of
7052-547: Was formed in 1954 as a worldwide organisation affiliated to the International Union of Biological Sciences . More recently, coordination has also been provided by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), which has the mission "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
7138-623: Was marked by introductions from the Cape of South Africa – including ericas , geraniums , pelargoniums , succulents, and proteaceous plants – while the Dutch trade with the Dutch East Indies resulted in a golden era for the Leiden and Amsterdam botanical gardens and a boom in the construction of conservatories. The Royal Gardens at Kew were founded in 1759, initially as part of
7224-638: 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 public. In England , the Chelsea Physic Garden was founded in 1673 as the "Garden of the Society of Apothecaries". The Chelsea garden had heated greenhouses , and in 1723 appointed Philip Miller (1691–1771) as head gardener . He had
7310-442: 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 botanical gardens such as Kew or Amsterdam – and included cloves , tea , coffee , breadfruit, cinchona , sugar , cotton , palm oil and Theobroma cacao (for chocolate). During these times,
7396-405: Was used as an unofficial dumping ground, due to being the lowest-lying portion of the Garden; this, along with the Garden's originally being a salt marsh, resulted in this edge of the Public Garden being "a moist stew that reeked and that was a mess to walk over, steering people to other parts of the park". Although plans had long been in place to regrade this portion of the Garden, the cost of moving
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