BOTANICAL

GARDEN
BUENAVENTURA, Alexa
MAGPANTAY, Edxer

Botanical Garden
an

establishment where plants are

grown for display to the public and
often for scientific study.
is a garden dedicated to the
collection, cultivation and display
of a wide range of plants 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 greenhouses, shade houses,
again with special collections such
as tropical plants, alpine plants, or
other exotic plants.

ORIGIN OF BOTANICAL
GARDEN

Gardens and the cultivation of plants

have been around for thousands of
years with the first examples dating to
around 3000 years ago in ancient
Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Romans
were also keen gardeners and they
were also aware of the medicinal
properties of plants. Following on from
the Romans in identifying the
medicinal properties of plants were
the monks. They also used the beauty
of plants and flowers as a celebration
of god. The first of these monastic
gardens was created in the 8th
century. These gardens were the precursor to the physic gardens that
appeared in the 16 century.

ORIGIN OF BOTANICAL
GARDEN

None of the gardens mentioned so far can

be regarded as botanic gardens though.
A botanic garden is not an easy thing to
classify (see the definition page for a
detailed definition) though an underlying
scientific basis is a necessity. Therefore the
worlds first botanic gardens were the physic
gardens of Italy in the 16th and 17th
centuries. The first of these physic gardens
was the garden of the University of Pisa
which was created by Luca Ghini in 1543.
Following this other Italian universities
followed suit and gardens were created in
Padova (1545), Firenze (1545) and Bologna
(1547). These gardens were purely for the
academic study of medicinal plants. By the
16th Century these medicinal gardens had
spread to universities and apothecaries
throughout central Europe such as Cologne
and Prague. The University of Oxford botanic
garden was the first garden established in
the United Kingdom in 1621 with a mission to
promote learning and the glory of god.

ORIGIN OF BOTANICAL
GARDEN

Botanic gardens then experienced a change in

usage during the 16th and 17th century. This was
the age of exploration and the beginnings of
international trade. Gardens such as the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kewand the Real Jardn
Botnico de Madridwere set up to try and
cultivate new species that were being brought
back from expeditions to the tropics. Not only did
these gardens promote and encourage
botanical exploration in the tropics they also
helped found new gardens in the tropical regions
to help cultivate these newly discovered plant
species. The British established Calcutta Botanic
Gardens in 1787 while the French set up
Pamplemousse Botanic Gardens in Mauritius in
1735 and the Real Jardn Botnico de Madrid
established the botanic gardens of La Orotava
on Tenerife. These tropical gardens were created
almost solely to receive and cultivate commercial
crops such as cloves, tea, coffee, breadfruit,
cinchona, palm oil as well as chocolate. It was
during these times that Para rubber was
introduced to Singapore, teak and tea to India
and breadfruit, pepper and star fruit to the
Caribbean.

The Glasshouse at Missouri

Botanic Garden

ORIGIN OF BOTANICAL
GARDEN

In the last 30 years botanic gardens have

seen a revival as scientific institutions due
to the emergence of the conservation
movement. They are now seen as very
important due to their existing collections
and the scientific knowledge they posses
in the propagation of plant species.
Conservation is now seen in many
gardens as their rasion detre. The
beginning of this was seen in the 1970s
when IUCN began encouraging ex situ
conservation of threatened plants.

There are now currently 1775 botanic

gardens and arboreta in 148 countries
around the world with many more under
construction or being planned such as 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.

PLACES FOUND IN A
BOTANICAL GARDEN AND
ITS USE/ FUNCTION

Restaurants, information centres,

greenhouses, mausoleums and sales
areas

- Botanical gardens started to cater for

many interests and their displays reflected
this, often
botanical exhibits on themes
of evolution, ecology or taxonomy,
horticultural displays
of attractive flowerbeds and herbaceous
borders, plants from different parts of the
world, special collections of plant groups
such as bamboos or roses, and specialist
glasshouse collections such as tropical
plants, alpine plants, cacti and orchids, as
well as the traditional herb gardens and
medicinal plants.
- Many gardens now have plant shops
selling flowers, herbs, and vegetable
seedlings suitable
for transplanting

PLACES FOUND IN A
BOTANICAL GARDEN AND
ITS USE/ FUNCTION

for transplanting
ROLES AND FUNCTIONS
Many of the functions of botanical gardens have emphasised the
scientific underpinning of botanical gardens with their focus on
research, education and conservation. However, as multifaceted
organisations, all sites have their own special interests. In a remarkable
paper on the role of botanical gardens, Ferdinand Mueller (1825
1896), the director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne (1852
1873), stated, "in all cases the objects [of a botanical garden] must be
mainly scientific and predominantly instructive". He then detailed
many of the objectives being pursued by the world's botanical
gardens in the middle of the 19th century, when European gardens
were at their height. Many of these are listed below to give a sense of
the scope of botanical gardens' activities at that time, and the ways in
which they differed from parks or what he called "public pleasure
gardens".

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 (American English: lumber) 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 and other plants to

commerce

studies of plant chemistry (phytochemistry)

report on the effects of plants on livestock

EXAMPLES OF EXISTING
LOCAL CITY/ MUNICIPAL
BOTANICAL GARDEN
A.

The Baguio Botanical Garden is

located east of Baguio's
downtown area. You will find it
between Teacher's Camp and the
Pacdal Circle. Its main entrance is
along Leonard Wood Road and
just across the street from Gilberto's
Hotel and Baguio Vacation Hotel. It
is quite a large park and about the
same size as Burnham Park.

EXAMPLES OF EXISTING
LOCAL CITY/ MUNICIPAL
BOTANICAL GARDEN
The

Makiling Botanic Gardens

(MBG) in Laguna was established
primarily to "support professional
instruction and research related to
forestry and plant sciences" of the
University of the Philippines Los
Baos (UPLB)-College of Forestry
and Natural Resources (CFNR). It
was also designated as a tourist
destination and as educational
and recreational facility for the
general public since 1965.

EXAMPLES OF EXISTING
FOREIGN CITY/
MUNICIPAL BOTANICAL
GARDEN
The

oldest botanical garden in

South Africa is the Durban Botanic
Gardens which has been located
on the same site since 1851.
The Kirstenbosch National
Botanical Garden, established in
1913, has a site dating to
1848. Stellenbosch University
Botanical Garden is the oldest
university botanical garden in
South Africa, and was established
in 1922.

EXAMPLES OF EXISTING
FOREIGN CITY/
MUNICIPAL BOTANICAL
GARDEN
B.

Ukraine has a well-respected

collection at Nikitsky Botanical
Garden, Yalta, founded in 1812.
M.M. Gryshko National Botanical
Garden is a botanical garden of
the Academy of Sciences of
Ukraine founded in 1936, is located
in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

Philippine Ornamental
Plants and Trees
Native Grasses
(Ground Covers)
Bantotan
Digitaria conjugata (P. J. Berg.) Schult.

Hilograss
Paspalum sieberianum Steud.

Carabao grass
Paspalum renggeri Steud.

Buffalo grass
Paspalum longissimum Hochst. Steud.

Sakate
Paspalum ciliatum Lam

Philippine Ornamental
Plants and Trees
Bamboo
Kauyan tinik
Bambusa blumeana

Kauyan kiling
Bambusa vulgaria

Bayog
Dendrocalamus

Buho
Dendrocalamus

Philippine Ornamental
Plants and Trees
Trees
(Canopy Trees)

Almaciga
Agathis philippinensis

Dita
Alstonia scholaris

Tanguile
Shorea polysperma

Lanite
Wrightia pubescens

Philippine Ornamental
Plants and Trees
Trees
(Palm Trees [Border Trees])

Spindle palm
Hyophorbe verschaffeltii

Pygmy date palm

Phoenix roebelenii

Canary Island date palm

Phoenix canariensis

Palmetto palm
Sabal palmetto

Philippine Ornamental
Plants and Trees
Trees
(Palm Trees [Border Trees])

Manila palm
Veitchia merrillii

Foxtail palm
Wodyetia bifurcata

Philippine Ornamental
Plants and Trees
Orchids

Acampe rigida

Tiny-flowered
Abdominea
Abdominea minimiflora

Bulbophyllum abbreviatum

Acanthephippium
mantinianum
Bulbophyllum absconditum

Philippine Ornamental
Plants and Trees
Herbs
(Medicinal Plants)

Lagundi
Vitex negundo

Sambong
Blumea balsamifera
(Linn.) DC.

Pansit-pansitan
Peperomia pellucida (L.)
Kunth

Akapulko
Senna alata (L.)
Roxb.

Niog-niogan
Quisqualis indica Linn.

Oregano
Mentha arvensis Linn.