The Robert & Catherine Wilson Botanical Garden

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Costa Rica - Puntarenas - San Vito de Coto Brus

Institution Code: LASCR

BGCI Member: No

About the The Robert & Catherine Wilson Botanical Garden

The Las Cruces Biological Station is home to the Wilson Botanical Garden – the most famous botanical garden in Central America. The garden features beautifully diverse plantings of tropical and subtropical ornamentals, representatives of unusual plant families, and rare and endangered plants from Costa Rica and elsewhere. The garden also boasts the second largest collection of palms in the world. Particularly well represented groups include ferns, aroids, bromeliads, gingers, heliconias, marantas, and of course palms.

Main Address:
The Robert & Catherine Wilson Botanical Garden
PO Box 73-8257
San Vito de Coto Brus
Puntarenas Costa Rica

Telephone: 506 2773 4004
Fax: 506 2773 4109
URL: http://tropicalstudies.org/portfolio/las-cruces-research-station/
Primary Email: lascruces@tropicalstudies.org

Staff Details

  • Director's Name: -
    Curator's Name:
    Plant Records Officer's Name:
  • Total Staff:
    Horticultural Staff Number: 6
    Educational Staff Number: 3
    Research Staff Number: 1
    Administration Staff Number: 5

About the Garden

  • Institution Type: Botanic Garden
  • Status
  • Status: Private: Yes
    Status: State: No
    Status: Educational: Yes
    Status: Municipal: No
    Status: Satellite: No
    Status: Trust: No
  • Date founded: 1962
  • Physical Data
  • Natural Vegetation Area: Yes
    Natural vegetation area: Size: 316 Hectares
  • Landscaped Area: Yes
    Landscaped Area: Size: 10 Hectares
  • Total Area: 326 Hectares
    Latitude: 8.785278
    Longitude: -82.958889
    Annual Rainfall: 4000 mm
    Altitude: 1200.00 Metres
    Total area of glasshouses: 500 Metres
    Total area of shadehouses: 500 Metres
  • Locality: Information
  • Locality: Garden Name: Jardín Botánico Wilson
  • Local Address: 6 km sur San Vito, carretera Ciudad Neily
  • Locality: City: San Vito
  • Locality: State: Puntarenas

Features and Facilities

  • Herbarium: Yes
    Herbarium: Number of Specimens: 2600
    Arboretum: No
  • Micropropagation/ Tissue Culture Facilities: Yes
    Seed Bank: Yes
    Published Plant Catalogue: No
    Computer Plant Record System: Yes
  • Open to public: Yes
    Friends society: Yes
    Retail Outlet: Shop: Yes
    Retail Outlet: Plant Sales: No
    Disabled access: Yes
  • Number of Visitors: 15000
    Number of Volunteers: 20

Plant Collections

  • Accession Number: 5000
    Cultivation Taxa Num: 1000
  • Special Collections:Epiphytes, ferns (125 spp., including tree ferns) , palms (700 spp., one of the largest collections in the world). Araceae, Bromeliaceae, Heliconiaceae, Orchidaceae (226 spp.), Zingiberaceae, Acanthaceae, Marantaceae, Gesneriaceae, Leguminosae, Melastomat
  • Invasive Species Monitoring: Yes
    Invasive Species Policy: Yes
    ABS Policy: No
    Plant Collection Policy: Yes

Conservation Programmes

  • Conservation Programme: Yes
    Medicinal Plant Programme: Yes
    Ex Situ Conservation Programme: Yes
    Reintroduction Programme: No

Research Programmes

  • Biotechnology: No
    Plant Breeding: Yes
    Conservation - Biology: Yes
    Conservation - Genetics: Yes
    Data Management Systems and Information Technology: Yes
    Ecology: Yes
    Ecosystem Conservation: Yes
    Education: Yes
    Ethnobotany: Yes
    Exploration: Yes
    Floristics: Yes
    Horticulture: Yes
    Invasive Species Biology and Control: Yes
    Molecular Genetics: Yes
    Pollination Biology: Yes
    Restoration Ecology: Yes
    Seed/Spore Biology: Yes
    Systematics and Taxonomy: Yes
    Sustainability: Yes
    Pharmacology: No
    Agriculture: No
    Land Restoration: Yes
    Urban Environments: No

Education Programmes

  • Visitor/Education Centre: Yes
    Education Signs in Garden: Yes
    Public Lectures/Talks: Yes
    Education Booklets/Leaflets: Yes
    Guided Tours: Yes
    Permanent Public Displays: Yes
    Special Exhibitions: No
    Courses for School Children: Yes
    Courses for University/College Students: Yes
    Courses for General Public: Yes
    Education Programme: Yes