Palermo Botanical Garden
The Palermo Botanical Garden (Italian: Orto Botanico di Palermo ) is a garden that is used by the University of Palermo as a teaching and research facility and is open to interested visitors.
history
In 1779 the Accademia dei Regi Studi (roughly: royal university) founded the chair for botany and medicine. A piece of land was allocated to this chair on which plants could be cultivated and examined for possible use as medicinal plants. However, since the allocated land soon proved to be too small, the complex was moved to its current location in 1786 next to the Villa Giulia, which already existed at the time .
In 1789 the construction of the neoclassical administration building, the grammar school , began according to the plans of the French architect Léon Dufourny . Two outbuildings, the tepidarium and the calidarium , were designed by Venanzio Marvuglia .
Dufourny also designed the oldest part of the garden near the high school . The garden was opened in 1795. In the following years the facility was expanded to include the Acquarium (1798), a basin with aquatic plants, and the Serra Maria Carolina (1823), a greenhouse. In 1845, the Ficus macrophylla , now the garden's landmark, was introduced from Norfolk Island ( Australia ). The current size of about ten hectares was achieved through many smaller extensions in 1892, in 1913 the Giardino coloniale ("colonial garden") was opened, but it no longer exists today. Since 1985 the garden has been managed by the Dipartimento di Scienze Botaniche (Institute of Botany).
Head of the garden
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Worth seeing
Gymnasium, calidarium and tepidarium
The neoclassical high school is near the main entrance. Originally it was the main building of the Schola Regia Botanice (Royal Botanical Institute) with herbarium , library and the director's office. The high school is a building with a rectangular floor plan and a Doric portico with four columns.
In two smaller buildings on the sides of the grammar school , the calidarium and the tepidarium, there are plants that preferred a warmer climate.
Garden according to Linnaeus
These are the oldest part of the garden. It is a rectangular complex, divided into four quarters, the plants were cultivated according to the taxonomy of Carl von Linné . There are fountains between the sections. In the center is the junction of Viale centrale , the main axis of the botanical garden, and Viale delle palme , an avenue of palm trees.
Aquarium and lagoon
The aquarium is a large round basin at the end of Via centrale , which is divided into 24 sections by three concentric circles, each with 8 sections. These each house a variety of aquatic plants.
The "lagoon" is located a few meters from the aquarium and also shows a number of aquatic plants.
The greenhouses
Over time, greenhouses were built again and again, which today have a total area of around 1,300 m 2 .
The oldest is the Serra Maria Carolina ( serra it. For greenhouse), a gift from Queen Maria Karolina of Austria , also known as the Giardino d'Inverno (winter garden). Originally it was a wood structure heated by stoves, but in the second half of the 19th century it was replaced by a cast iron structure.
Further:
- A greenhouse with succulents , with plants from arid regions,
- one that is used for experiments,
- one with plants from the region,
- and one with ferns
Research area
Part of the botanical garden is still used for scientific work. The area is located in the southwestern part of the facility. The research relates to plants that are supposed to be used for the production of oils, fibers and resins, currently mainly experiments with cotton , vegetables, sugar cane and sorghum .
Nuovo settore
In the southern part of the garden, the plants are based on the taxonomy of Adolf Engler . The species are arranged according to Nacktsamern , Bedecktsamern , Magnoliopsida and Liliopsida .
The herbarium
The modern herbarium mediterraneum has an area of 6000 m² and is partially covered.
The largest are the Erbario Siculo and the Erbario Generale of the Institute of Botany, with 50,000 and 200,000 copies respectively. About a quarter of the species of Mediterranean vegetation originate from the latter, most of them from the island of Sicily . The non-Sicilian species are from Portugal , Spain , France , Algeria , Egypt , Greece , Corsica , Sardinia , Crete and Cyprus . There are also around 2000 species of algae , 1600 species of lichen , 4700 species of moss and fungus .
Gene bank
The gene bank was founded in 1993 and is part of RIBES (Rete Italiana Banche Germoplasma), which deals with securing the genetic material of the flora of the region. For this purpose, the seeds of endangered plants native to Sicily are collected and stored and preserved in ampoules. The seeds are subjected to periodic viability tests.
biodiversity
The gardens are currently home to around 12,000 different species.
Created in the second half of the 19th century, the gardens were the model for a number of large botanical gardens in Northern Europe. Because of the mild climate of Palermo it was possible to cultivate a large number of plants from all over the world that were previously rare or unknown in Europe. There was also a lively exchange with the Berlin Botanical Garden through the mediation of Adolf Engler . The Botanical Garden of Palermo was responsible for introducing the mandarin (Citrus deliciosa) and the Japanese loquat Eriobotrya japonica in Europe.
In the old gardens according to Linnaeus, around 1580 different species originally grew, of which 658 are still growing there, including specimens of Ginkgo biloba .
There are a number of water lilies (Nymphaea) in the aquarium , including Nymphaea alba , Nymphaea tuberosa hybrids of Nymphaea × marliacea , and the multi-colored Nuphar lutea and Nelumbo nucifera . Alocasia , Colocasia and Zantedeschia are found in a swamp-like part of the garden , while real papyrus and other sour grasses such as Scirpus lacustris, a reed, and sedge grow in a nearby “lagoon” .
There are also some types of bamboo and dragon trees on a small artificial hill . The largest tree in the garden is a giant fig tree that was introduced from Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean in 1845 .
In the succulent garden one can find some aloes and various other plants of arid regions, including cereus , crassula , milkweed and opuntia . A large number of ficus species that are supposed to give the impression of jungle vegetation.
Another part of the garden is dedicated to palm trees, such as the Japanese cycad which was donated to the garden by Queen Maria Carolina in 1793 and which was the first of its kind in Europe. Cycads from Mexico and the Indian subcontinent were also planted there. In 1997 the collection was expanded to include some valuable species such as Dioon spinulosum , Encephalartos altensteinii , Encephalartos longifolius , Encephalartos villosus , Macrozamia moorei and Zamia furfuracea .
Together with Chamaerops humilis , the only palm species native to Sicily, and other exotic species, there are around 80 different species and 34 different genera. The genus Washingtonia is represented by the W. filifera .
The Giardino d'Inverno (winter garden) is home to a number of species that otherwise only thrive in the warm climates of Africa , Central America , South America , Asia and Australia . These include: coffee plants ( Coffea arabica ), papaya ( Carica papaya ), a range of bougainvilleas , cinnamon plants ( Cinnamomum ceylanicum ) and mimosas . In the Serra della Regione (about: greenhouse of the region), there are some specimens of the travelers' tree as well as of (the traveller's palm) flamingo flowers , milkweed and screw trees and other plants from the equatorial region. Two smaller greenhouses show orchids , carnivorous plants and cacti .
In the Settore Sperimentale e delle Piante Utili (for example: Experimental area for practical applications) you will find sugar cane , sorghum , both for the production of sugar, banana plants , pecan trees and some local rare vegetables. Ginseng , wormwood , common thorn apple , sleeping berry , camphor laurel and opium poppy are grown there as medicinal plants .
curiosity
A colony of ring-necked parakeets has been living in the garden for a number of years. They had fled from the nearby Villa Giulia and feel very comfortable in their new subtropical habitat.
literature
- AI Lima: L'Orto Botanico di Palermo. SF Flaccovio Editore, Palermo 1978.
- FM Raimondo, A. Di Martino, P. Mazzola: L'orto botanico di Palermo. La flora dei tropici nel cuore del mediterraneo. Arbor Editore, 1993, ISBN 88-86325-02-9 .
- FM Raimondo, A. Scialabba: The role and function of germplasm in the context of the Palermo Botanical Garden. In: Giorn. Bot. Ital. 128 (1), 1994, p. 414.
Web links
- Official site of the gardens (Italian)
- Official site of the herbarium (English)
Coordinates: 38 ° 6 ′ 43 ″ N , 13 ° 22 ′ 25 ″ E