Botanical Gardens Pisa

BOTANICAL GARDENS PISA

It is the oldest European Botanic Garden set up in dependence of the university institution. The present appearance differs greatly from the original and the visible structures in pristine condition are: the old institute with the characteristic facade decorated with shells and corals; the pillars of the seats in front of the gate to it and decorated in a similar manner; six of the eight fountains with bath.

Since its origin, the Garden has played an important role in teaching and is now a source of material for Botany courses as well as providing, with its collections, support research programs for both those biological, genetic and natural, both application areas such as pharmaceuticals, veterinary and agriculture. In the part of the Garden located north of the Department of Botany it extends the arboretum where trees are planted conifers belonging to the group and amentifere.

Outside of the arboretum are several important historical trees; in the Garden of the Cedar home to two older specimens, a Magnolia grandiflora and a Ginkgo biloba, planted in 1787 by the prefect Giorgio Santi. A number of plants grouped by families in the flowerbeds of the "School Botany" allow you to appreciate, according to a teaching-systematic basis, the affinities between the different plant groups through the comparison of floral structures and in general morphological aspects.

In the field called "Garden of Myrtle" for the presence of a specimen vetusto of Myrtus communis, are grown approximately one hundred and forty species of medicinal plants, some used by the Italian Pharmacopoeia as the castor and the digital. Aquatic plants are a collection of mostly native species that once characterized the Tuscan territory. Some of them like Farferugine marsh have disappeared from the natural environments; others such as marsh ilibisco and nannufero are at risk of extinction because of pollution of water and land reclamation. They are also grown many exotic aquatic plants such as the Victoria regia Lindley.

The Mediterranean geophytes collection collects grass species belonging mainly to the genera Allium, Ornithogalum and Muscari, from different areas of the Mediterranean basin and is the subject of studies and citotassonomici geobotanical. An entire greenhouse of the Botanical Garden is devoted to species of succulents. Both species are housed in cauline succulence as the Cactaceae and Euphorbiaceae, both specimens at leaf succulence found in Aloe and Agave genres.

A greenhouse equipped with sophisticated monitoring equipment and control of environmental parameters houses the collection of tropical species. They are cultivated Araceae, Bromeliaceae, Commelinaceae, Orchidaceae and some plants of food interest such as papaya, pepper, coffee, tamarind, passion flower, and the eugenia. The small collection of Apuan species includes the Apuan Biscutella, Centaurea arachnoidea and the Alpine Daphne. The collection was carried out in agreement with the Natural Park of the Apuan Alps.

Italians Egyptological studies have long been a popular location in Pisa. The collection includes herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees cultivated in ancient Egypt for potable alcohol, drug-cosmetic and industrial.