Botanical Garden of Florence
Botanical Garden collections
All collections
Introduction | Acquatic | Citrus fruits | Trees | Wild edible plants | Araceae family | Wild shrubs | Begonias | Bromeliads | Carnivorous | Cycads | Grasses | Medicinals | Tropical orchids | Palms | Pteridophytes | Roses | Serpentinophytes | Succulent plants | Exhibits
The Botanical Garden of Florence 'Giardino dei Semplici', founded on 1st December 1545 by Cosimo I de Medici, is the third most ancient botanical garden in the world after those of Pisa and Padua. Here, every day since almost 500 years, well-documented collections of living plants have been cared for, grown up and spread all around here for conservation, research and educational aims.
Botanical specimens are grouped into collections according to clearly defined and recognizable criteria. One of the most widely used is the systematic one, which orders plants on classification models based on phylogenetic research, which is constantly updated, establishing the evolutionary kinship relationships of the different plant groups.
Another criterion widely used is that of adaptation to specific environmental factors, such as drought or nutrient scarcity or to specific habitats such as aquatic ones. Species can also be grouped into collections on the basis of their present and past use; e. g. are the collections of food, medicinal, textile and dye plants.
Specific panels allow visitors to recognize the different botanical collections in the Garden, and the criteria on the basis of which the plants are grouped.
Heads of collections: Giulio Ferretti | Giulia Torta
Info to plan your visit to the Botanical Garden