The Arboretum d'Harcourt (11 hectares) is a historic

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

located on the grounds of the 14th-century

Château d'Harcourt The Château d'Harcourt, situated in the ''commune'' of Harcourt in the Eure department of France, is the cradle of the Harcourt family. The castle is one of the best preserved castles in the country and contains the oldest arboretum in France. ...

in Harcourt,

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The arboretum is one of the oldest in France, dating to 1802 when Louis-Gervais Delamare acquired the castle and its grounds. He introduced

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

cultivation on 200 hectares. After his death in 1827 the arboretum was bequeathed to the ''Société royale d'agriculture'', which in 1833 charged botanist

François André Michaux François André Michaux (16 August 1770 – 23 October 1855) was a French botanist, son of André Michaux and the namesake of Michaux State Forest in Pennsylvania. Michaux ''père'' botanized in North America for nearly a dozen years (178 ...

to establish the arboretum. In 1852

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n species were planted, followed from 1855-1860 by those of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. Since 1999 the arboretum has been the property of the ''Conseil Général du l'Eure'', and today contains more than 3,000 woody plants representing about 470

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

. The chateau's grounds also contain a forest of native and exotic species, with walking paths.

References

External links

*
1001 Fleurs entry (French)

Conservatoire des Jardins et Paysages entry (French)
Harcourt, Arboretum d' Harcourt, Arboretum d' Taxa named by André Michaux {{France-garden-stub

See also

References

External links