Editing Botanical garden (section)

==Definitions==

[[File:Botanischer Garten BS.Seerosen.jpg|right|thumb|[[Botanischer Garten der Technischen Universität Braunschweig|Braunschweig Botanical Garden]], Germany; ''[[Victoria amazonica]]'', giant Amazon water lily]]

The "New [[Royal Horticultural Society]] Dictionary of Gardening" (1999) points out that among the various kinds of organizations known as botanical gardens, there are many that are in modern times public gardens with little scientific activity, and it cited a tighter definition published by the [[World Wildlife Fund]] and [[IUCN]] when launching the "Botanic Gardens Conservation Strategy" in 1989: "A botanic garden is a garden containing scientifically ordered and maintained collections of plants, usually documented and labelled, and open to the public for the purposes of recreation, education and research."<ref name="Hux92375">{{Harvnb|Huxley|1992|p=375}}</ref> 

This has been further reduced by [[Botanic Gardens Conservation International]] to the following definition which "encompasses the spirit of a true botanic garden":<ref>{{Harvnb|Wyse Jackson|Sutherland|2000|p=12}}</ref> "A botanic garden is an institution holding documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific research, conservation, display and education."<ref>{{Harvnb|Wyse Jackson|1999 |p=27}}</ref>
The following definition was produced by staff of the Liberty Hyde Bailey [[Hortorium]] of [[Cornell University]] in 1976. It covers in some detail the many functions and activities generally associated with botanical gardens:<ref name=Bailey>{{Harvnb|Bailey|Bailey|1978|p=173}}</ref>

{{blockquote|A botanical garden is a controlled and staffed institution for the maintenance of a living collection of plants under scientific management for purposes of education and research, together with such libraries, herbaria, laboratories, and museums as are essential to its particular undertakings. Each botanical garden naturally develops its own special fields of interests depending on its personnel, location, extent, available funds, and the terms of its charter. It may include greenhouses, test grounds, an herbarium, an arboretum, and other departments. It maintains a scientific as well as a plant-growing staff, and publication is one of its major modes of expression.}}

This broad outline is then expanded:<ref name=Bailey/>

{{blockquote|The botanic garden may be an independent institution, a governmental operation, or affiliated to a college or university. If a department of an educational institution, it may be related to a teaching program. In any case, it exists for scientific ends and is not to be restricted or diverted by other demands. It is not merely a landscaped or ornamental garden, although it may be artistic, nor is it an experiment station or yet a park with labels on the plants. The essential element is the intention of the enterprise, which is the acquisition and dissemination of botanical knowledge.}}

=== Role and functions ===

All botanical gardens have their own special interests. In a paper on the role of botanical gardens, [[Ferdinand von 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".<ref name="Mueller 1871"/> He 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 garden]]s":<ref name="Mueller 1871">{{harvnb|Mueller|1871}}</ref>

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* 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 ([[List of American words not widely used in the United Kingdom#L|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
* at least one collector maintained doing [[field work]]
{{div col end}}

Botanical gardens have always responded to the interests and values of the day. If a single function were to be chosen from the early literature on botanical gardens, it would be their scientific endeavour and, flowing from this, their instructional value. In their formative years, botanical gardens were gardens for physicians and botanists, but they became more associated with ornamental horticulture and the needs of the general public. The scientific reputation of a botanical garden is judged by the publications coming out of herbaria and similar facilities, not by its living collections.<ref>{{Harvnb|Heywood|1987|p=16}}</ref> Their focus has been on creating an awareness of the threat to the [[Human impact on the environment|Earth's ecosystems from human populations]] and its consequent need for biological and physical resources. Botanical gardens provide an excellent medium for communication between the world of botanical science and the general public. Education programs can help the public develop greater [[environmental awareness]] by understanding the meaning and importance of ideas like conservation and sustainability.<ref>{{Harvnb|Drayton|2000|pp=269–274}}</ref>

=== Worldwide network ===

[[File:Singapore Gardens by the Bay viewed from Marina Bay Sands 03.jpg|thumb|[[Gardens by the Bay|Gardens by the Bay, Singapore]]]]

[[File:The Botanical Building.png|thumb|The Botanical Building is considered to be one of the largest lath wooden creations in the world and is home to over 2000 varieties of vegetation. It is located adjacent to the lily pond in Balboa Park, San Diego, CA and is currently undergoing a lengthy renovation, 2024. ]]

Worldwide, there are now about 1800 botanical gardens and [[arboretum|arboreta]] in about 150 countries (mostly in temperate regions) of which about 550 are in [[Europe]] (150 of which are in [[Russia]]),<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gratani |first=Loretta |date=15 January 2008 |title=Growth pattern and photosynthetic activity of different bamboo species growing in the Botanical Garden of Rome |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0367253007001247 |journal=Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants |volume=203 |issue=1 |pages=77–84 |doi=10.1016/j.flora.2007.11.002 |bibcode=2008FMDFE.203...77G |via=Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 200 in [[North America]],<ref name=bhist /> and an increasing number in East Asia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://202.127.158.171/eabgn/english/index.htm |title=东亚植物园 |publisher=East Asia Botanic Gardens Network |access-date=8 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123222721/http://202.127.158.171/eabgn/english/index.htm |archive-date=23 January 2008}}</ref> These gardens attract about 300 million visitors a year.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Sophie J. |last2=Jones |first2=Julia P. G. |last3=Gibbons |first3=James M. |last4=Clubbe |first4=Colin |date=20 February 2015 |title=Botanic gardens can positively influence visitors' environmental attitudes |url=http://arbnet.org/sites/arbnet/files/Williams%20et%20al%202015%20Botanic%20gardens%20can%20positively%20influence%20visitors%27%20environmental%20attitudes%20BIOCONS.pdf |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=24 |issue=7 |pages=1609–1620 |doi=10.1007/s10531-015-0879-7 |bibcode=2015BiCon..24.1609W |s2cid=15572584}}</ref>

Historically, botanical gardens exchanged plants through the publication of seed lists (called {{langx|la|Indices Seminae}} in the 18th century). This was a means of transferring both plants and information between botanical gardens. This system continues today, though with attention to the risks of genetic piracy and transmission of [[invasive species]].<ref name=h11>{{Harvnb|Heywood|1987|p=11}}</ref>

The International Association of Botanic Gardens<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bgci.org/index.php?option=com_content&id=1530 |title=International Association of Botanic Gardens (IABG) |work=BGCI.org |publisher=Botanic Gardens Conservation International |access-date=8 November 2011}}</ref> was formed in 1954 as a worldwide organisation affiliated to the [[International Union of Biological Sciences]]. More recently, coordination has also been provided by [[Botanic Gardens Conservation International]] (BGCI), which has the mission "To mobilise botanic gardens and engage partners in securing plant diversity for the well-being of people and the planet".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bgci.org/global/mission/ |title=Mission statement |work=BGCI.org |publisher=Botanic Gardens Conservation International |access-date=8 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028054037/http://www.bgci.org/global/mission |archive-date=28 October 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 

Regional co-ordination is seen in the United States with the [[American Public Gardens Association]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.publicgardens.org/ |title=American Public Gardens Association |work=publicgardens.org |publisher=American Public Gardens Association |access-date=8 November 2011}}</ref> (formerly the American Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta), while in Australasia there is the Botanic Gardens of Australia and New Zealand (BGANZ).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bganz.org.au/ |title=Welcome to BGANZ |year=2011 |work=BGANZ.org.au |publisher=Botanic Gardens Australia and New Zealand Inc |access-date=8 November 2011}}</ref>