Civico Orto Botanico

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Italy - Friuli Venezia Giulia - Trieste

Institution Code: TSM

BGCI Member: No

Civico Orto Botanico - Trieste - Italy
Civico Orto Botanico - Trieste - Italy

About the Civico Orto Botanico

The Botanical Gardens are the property of the Municipality
of Trieste and a part of the Civic Scientific Museums. The
layout of the gardens, as depicted in the map, includes various
areas. Associated with the gardens is a natural reserve comprising the Biasoletto wood and the Farneto wood (for a
total of 90 ha).
The Botanical Gardens publishes the Index Seminum,
where each year the species for which seeds are offered are
listed, complete with all of the collection data. The list is sent
to most of the other botanical gardens throughout the world
as part of a free exchange between scientific institutes.
Already a linchpin in the relationship between scientific
research and environmental conservation, botanical gardens
have also become a centre for teaching and
recreation. The aim of the gardens is to satisfy
the needs of both advanced scientific
research and a new environmental
awareness, so as to develop activities of a cultural
nature for an increasingly broader section of the public.
As well as the research and systematic classification performed,
botanical gardens have taken on the role of the conservation,
cultivation and reproduction of officinal plants,
plants for textile production and foodstuffs, local horticultural
varieties, spontaneous and endemic flora of the region and
surrounding areas, aquatic and palustrine plants, succulent
plants. For this reason botanical gardens may be seen as an
island, albeit artificial, of floristic diversity which plays a
strategic part in the conservation of biodiversity, and therefore
in the survival of mankind itself.
When the gardens are integrated into the daily life of the citizens,
as is the case in Trieste, they are no longer a facility for
the exclusive use of botanists, but rather open to a much
broader public intent on enriching its own culture, or perhaps
escaping from a polluted and alienating
urban environment.

Main Address:
Civico Orto Botanico
via dei Tominz 4 (Office)
via Carlo de' Marchesetti 2
Trieste
Friuli Venezia Giulia 34139 Italy

Telephone: +39 040 360 068 -348 639 3055
Fax:
URL: http://www.ortobotanicotrieste.it/
Primary Email: ortobotanico@comune.trieste.it

Staff Details

  • Director's Name: Laura Carlini Fanfogna
    Curator's Name: Massimo Palma
    Plant Records Officer's Name:
  • Total Staff:
    Horticultural Staff Number: 5
    Educational Staff Number:
    Research Staff Number: 1
    Administration Staff Number:

About the Garden

  • Institution Type: Botanic Garden
  • Status
  • Status: Educational: Yes
    Status: Municipal: Yes
    Status: Trust: No
  • Date founded: 1842
  • Physical Data
  • Natural Vegetation Area: Yes
    Natural vegetation area: Size: 90 Hectares
  • Landscaped Area: Yes
    Landscaped Area: Size: 90 Hectares
  • Total Area: 1 Hectares
    Latitude: 45.653056
    Longitude: 13.791389
    Altitude: 80.00 Metres
  • Locality: Information
  • Locality: Garden Name: Civico Orto Botanico
  • Local Address: via Carlo de' Marchesetti 2 34139 Trieste
  • Locality: City: Trieste
  • Locality: State: Italia

Features and Facilities

  • Seed Bank: Yes
    Published Plant Catalogue: Yes
    Computer Plant Record System: Yes
  • Open to public: Yes
    Retail Outlet: Shop: No
    Retail Outlet: Plant Sales: No
    Disabled access: Yes
  • Number of Visitors: 7000
    Number of Volunteers: 10

Plant Collections

  • Accession Number: 3000
  • Special Collections:Wild plants - This section is undergoing development. A complete renewal of the historical flowerbeds will be carried out, with special emphasis on the most interesting
    species from the Trieste, Istrian and surrounding regions.
    Houseplants - At the beginning of the section dedicated to Poisonous plants, the poisonous garden,the most widespread toxic or lethal houseplants are on display.
    Ornamental plants - In the flowerbeds along the perimeter of the gardens there are several collections of ornamental plants (Hedera - ivy, Hydrangea - hydrangea, Hosta - hosta,
    Helleborus - hellebore, Paeonia - peony, Rosa - rose, Viola - violet), as well as spring-flowering (Crocus - crocus, Galanthus - snowdrops, Eranthis – winter aconite) and autumn-flowering bulbs (Sternbergia – winter daffodil).
    Anthology of magical plants - A flowerbed with a suggestively esoteric configuration, enriched with a stone fountain, a symbol of the trinity, is the site for a collection of the main plants with magical, religious
    and mythological importance. Magic is a metaphor for mankind’s relationship with nature, the basis of the mental construction that man erects against the indefinite, a stimulus for knowledge regarding traditions often based on officinal powers or on taboo dictated
    by the real danger of the plant. It is not, therefore, an incentive for superstition.
    Officinal plants - The layout of the garden dedicated to the officinal plants follows a systematic criteria(Pignatti, 1982). The choice of the species is based on the list of plants registered in the Official Pharmacopoeia of the Italian Republic and integrated with
    those present in studies of ethnobotany of Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Lokar Poldini,Rossi), in historical lists (Marchesetti) and in research regarding the officinal plants of the Austro-Hungarian coast (Tominz, 1881).
    Lotuses - The ponds are home to various aquatic species, including lotuses (Nelumbo) in full bloom in July and August, with iridescent colours in shades of pink, white and yellow.
    Edible plants - In response to research in edible wild plants it was decided to organise this area based on the various environments where the individual species grow, so
    as to facilitate their recognition in nature.
    Formal garden - The ordered flowerbeds bordered by the low box hedge are home to a number of collections of ornamental plants which bloom in different periods of the year. The genera, represented here by a large variety of species, are Helleborus (hellebore – flowering period II-IV), Narcissus (daffodil - flowering period XI-V), Paeonia (peony - flowering period III-V), Iris (iris - flowering period II-VII), Hydrangea (hydrangea - flowering period IV-IX), Hosta (hosta - flowering period V-VII), Rosa (rose - flowering period V-X), and Salvia (sage - flowering period IV-XI).
    Dye plants - The choice of dedicating a section to a collection of dye plants arises from the desire to display the main historical species used by dyers. Alongside these are the spontaneous plants of limited and local use, and
    the exotics which poorly tolerate Trieste’s harsh winters and need to be protected in the greenhouses.
    Useful plants - Following the complete renovation of the facilities and the access to them, this section will host the main “plants of man” – those plants which for their various uses (nourishment, cosmetics, textiles) have shared the history and events of mankind.
    The poison garden (path of the poisonous plants) - This path with a guide is a close-up introduction to a number of poisonous plants. Scientific information is provided for each of them, along with peculiarities and uses. The path also aims to highlight the positive sides of the poisons: the pharmacological notes accompanying the plants indicate the therapeutic uses of the various toxin.

Conservation Programmes

  • Ex Situ Conservation Programme: Yes

Research Programmes

Education Programmes

  • Education Signs in Garden: Yes
    Education Booklets/Leaflets: Yes
    Guided Tours: Yes
    Special Exhibitions: Yes
    Courses for School Children: Yes
    Courses for General Public: Yes