Botanical garden

Botanical gardens are scientific and educational institutions dedicated to the study, conservation, and public display of living plant collections. Established across the world for centuries, these gardens maintain documented and accurately labelled specimens to support plant research, environmental awareness, and horticultural education. Their long history reflects the evolution of botany as a discipline, shifting from medicinal study to global plant exploration and, more recently, to conservation and public engagement.
The earliest true university botanical garden in Europe was founded in 1544 at the University of Pisa under the botanist Luca Ghini, marking the beginning of the modern tradition of academic plant collections. As botanical knowledge expanded, these gardens became important centres for scientific inquiry, taxonomy, and public instruction.

Definitions and Purpose

Although the terms botanic and botanical garden are used interchangeably, the former is often associated with earlier, traditional institutions. A modern botanical garden is generally recognised as an institution that holds documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific research, conservation, display, and education. Plants are carefully labelled with their botanical names, and collections may include specialist groups such as cacti, succulents, alpine flora, herbs, or plants from specific biogeographic regions.
Botanical gardens may incorporate glasshouses and shadehouses to cultivate tropical, subtropical, or otherwise non-native plants. Most are open to the public and host a wide variety of educational and cultural activities including workshops, interpretive exhibitions, guided tours, courses, and outdoor performances. Many gardens publish research, maintain herbaria, and offer academic training programmes in botany, horticulture, and plant taxonomy.
A commonly cited modern definition adopted by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) describes such a garden as an institution maintaining documented collections of living plants specifically for scientific research, conservation, display, and education.

Role and Functions

The functions of botanical gardens have evolved, though their core scientific and instructional roles remain central. In the nineteenth century, when many European gardens were flourishing, directors such as Ferdinand von Mueller articulated broad objectives that are still recognisable today. These include:

• Maintaining living collections for scientific investigation.
• Displaying plant diversity in form, ecological context, and geographical origin.
• Cultivating plants for their rarity, utility, or economic value.
• Growing species of timber, medicinal use, or horticultural interest.
• Supporting herbaria and publishing catalogues of plant holdings.
• Providing facilities for plant taxonomy and systematics.
• Conserving examples of vegetation types for study and teaching.
• Educating students and the general public.
• Introducing useful or ornamental plants into cultivation.
• Conducting studies of plant chemistry and phytochemistry.
• Documenting plant performance and maintaining accurate records.
• Dispatching botanical collectors to gather specimens.

Botanical gardens continue to adapt to contemporary issues, notably by promoting awareness of environmental change and biodiversity loss. They serve as important intermediaries between scientific knowledge and public understanding, delivering conservation messages and supporting global efforts to safeguard plant diversity.

Worldwide Network

There are approximately 1,800 botanical gardens and arboreta distributed across around 150 countries. The majority are located in temperate regions, with about 550 in Europe, including a large concentration in Russia, and around 200 in North America. East Asia is an increasingly significant region for the establishment of new gardens, reflecting growing investment in plant conservation and environmental education. Collectively, botanical gardens receive an estimated 300 million visitors annually, illustrating their cultural and educational influence.
Historically, gardens maintained a system of plant exchange through seed lists (commonly known as index seminum) published in the eighteenth century. This facilitated the spread of botanical knowledge and the distribution of plant material. The practice continues today but with greater attention to issues such as invasive species and genetic resource protection.
International coordination is supported by organisations including the International Association of Botanic Gardens and Botanic Gardens Conservation International, the latter dedicated to mobilising global plant collections for conservation. In various regions, cooperation is managed by bodies such as the American Public Gardens Association in the United States and the Botanic Gardens of Australia and New Zealand (BGANZ).

Historical Development

Botanical gardens share a close relationship with the development of botany as a science. Their earliest European forms—established in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries—served primarily as medicinal gardens supporting the teaching of medical students. As global exploration increased in the early modern period, these gardens became repositories for exotic plants brought back from colonial expeditions, adding horticultural and economic dimensions to their collections.
During the eighteenth century, their role broadened to include the demonstration of new plant classification systems emerging from academic herbaria. By the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many gardens reflected a combined interest in scientific study and ornamental horticulture, often integrating specialist collections, ecological exhibits, and extensive public displays.

Precursors and Ancient Traditions

Although modern botanical gardens trace their origin to the Renaissance medical faculties of Italy, the idea of curated scientific plant collections is far older. Evidence of gardens used for economic, medicinal, or research purposes can be found in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, and Mesoamerica. As early as 2800 BCE, Chinese emperors dispatched collectors to obtain plants of medicinal or agricultural importance.
Gardens in Tenochtitlan, established by rulers such as Nezahualcoyotl, revealed sophisticated horticultural knowledge to early European observers, notably in their rich use of medicinal plants. Medieval Islamic gardens in Spain, such as the Huerta del Rey garden of physic, also fulfilled functions similar to early European botanic gardens, integrating both medicinal and scientific aims.

Pisa: The First University Botanical Garden

The first university botanical garden in Europe was founded at Pisa in 1544 under the botanist Luca Ghini. Initially designed as a medicinal garden for the study of plants used by physicians and apothecaries, it became a model for later academic gardens. The garden was relocated twice—first in 1563 and again in 1591—to accommodate expansion and improved design. Its establishment marked the formal beginning of botanical gardens as institutions associated with scientific scholarship and higher education.