Botanical Garden of Vilnius University

Botanic garden in Lithuania

54°44′09″N 25°24′10″E / 54.73583°N 25.40278°E / 54.73583; 25.40278Area198.85 ha (491 acres)^[1]Opened1781 (1781)Operated byVilnius UniversityVisitors~100,000^[2]StatusOpen during the Summer seasonWebsiteOfficial website

Botanical Garden of Vilnius University (Lithuanian: Vilniaus universiteto botanikos sodas) is a botanical garden situated in Vilnius, Lithuania.

History

The garden was established by professor Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert of Vilnius University in 1781. In 1832 the Vilnius University and Botanical Garden were closed. In 1919, the Botanical Garden of the Polish Stefan Batory University was started in a new location, in Vingis (known as Zakret at that time).^[3] In 1975 territory of the garden was expanded. Since then the main part of the garden is in Kairėnai (address: Kairėnų 43, LT-10239 Vilnius) which is situated in Antakalnis elderate of Vilnius. There is also a department of the garden in Vingis Park (address: M. K. Čiurlionio 110, LT-03100 Vilnius).

Collection

The collection of the botanical garden includes 11,000 taxa of plants,^[1] including:

2,500 taxa in Department of Dendrology
3,000 taxa in Department of Plant Systematic and Geography
3,200 taxa in Department of Floriculture
300 taxa in Department of Plant Genetic
750 taxa in Department of Pomology
100 taxa in Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Isolated Tissue Cultures

About one third of the Lithuanian vascular plant inhabit the territory of the garden.^[2]

Research

The botanical garden carries out research in the areas of biotechnology, horticulture, molecular genetics, conservation, ethnobotany, systematics and taxonomy.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b "Botanical Garden of Vilnius University - About Us".
^ ^a ^b ^c "Botanical Garden of Vilnius University". Botanic Gardens Conservation International.
^ Kłos, Juliusz (1937). Wilno : przewodnik krajoznawczy. Wilno: Polskie Towarzystwo Turystyczno-Krajoznawcze. p. 162.