The Arboretum de la Fosse (25 hectares), sometimes known as the Parc botanique de la Fosse, is a historic, private

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 in

Fontaine-les-Coteaux Fontaine-les-Coteaux () is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France. Population Sights *Arboretum de la Fosse See also *Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department The following is a list of the 267 communes of the Loir-et-Ch ...

Loir-et-Cher Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Its name is originated from two rivers which cross it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher in its southern part. Its prefecture is Blois. The INSEE and La P ...

Centre-Val de Loire Centre-Val de Loire (, , ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (french: région Centre, link=no, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley ...

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 ...

. It is open several days per week in the summer; an admission fee is charged. Fontaine les Coteaux pigeonnier temple du domaine de la Fosse

The arboretum was established in 1751 by Alexandre-Sébastien Gérard, an advisor to

Empress Josephine An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

on the

Château de Malmaison The Château de Malmaison () is a French château situated near the left bank of the Seine, about west of the centre of Paris, in the commune of Rueil-Malmaison. Formerly the residence of Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, along with the Tuileri ...

, and is one of France's oldest arboreta. It has subsequently been owned and maintained by 7 generations of the same family, and in 1978 was the first arboretum entitled to protection by the ''Monuments Historiques'' designation. It contains a number of buildings dating to the 18th century onwards, including an interesting

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...

built in 1817. The arboretum is notable for its mature specimens of ''

Cedrus libani ''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great religi ...

'' (1810), ''

Taxus baccata ''Taxus baccata'' is a species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe (including Britain and Ireland), northwest Africa, northern Iran, and southwest Asia.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain ...

'' cv. Lebanon (1810), ''

Pinus laricio ''Pinus nigra'', the Austrian pine or black pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across Southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica and Cyprus, as wel ...

'' (1820), ''

Pinus strobus ''Pinus strobus'', commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada west through the Great Lake ...

'' (1820), ''

'' cv. fastigiata (1825), ''

Cephalotaxus fortunei ''Cephalotaxus fortunei'', commonly called the Chinese plum-yew, Fortune's yew plum, simply plum yew, Chinese cowtail pine or in Chinese as ''san jian shan'' (), is a coniferous shrub or small tree in the family Taxaceae. It is native to northe ...

'' (1880), ''

Juniperus drupacea ''Juniperus drupacea'', the Syrian juniper, is a species of juniper native to the eastern Mediterranean region from southern Greece (Parnon Oros, Peloponnese), southern Turkey, western Syria, and Lebanon, growing on rocky sites from in altitude. ...

'' (1880), ''

Davidia involucrata ''Davidia involucrata'', the dove-tree, handkerchief tree, pocket handkerchief tree, or ghost tree, is a medium-sized deciduous tree in the family Nyssaceae. It is the only living species in the genus ''Davidia''. It was previously included wi ...

'' (1905), ''

Cedrus brevifolia ''Cedrus brevifolia'', the Cyprus cedar, is a species of conifer in the genus ''Cedrus''. It is native to the Troödos Mountains of central Cyprus. It grows in the Cedar Valley in Pafos State Forest. It is often considered to be a synonym of ' ...

'' (1908), as well as good plantings of

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

cornus ''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shrub ...

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

s, and '' Actinidia sinensis'', ''

Carya ovata ''Carya ovata'', the shagbark hickory, is a common hickory in the Eastern United States and southeast Canada. It is a large, deciduous tree, growing well over tall, and can live more than 350 years. The tallest measured shagbark, located in Sav ...

'', ''

Ceanothus ''Ceanothus'' is a genus of about 50–60 species of Actinorhizal plant, nitrogen-fixing shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). Common names for members of this genus are buckbrush, California lilac, soap bush, or just ceano ...

'', ''

Cyclobalanopsis myrsinifolia ''Quercus myrsinifolia'' is an Asian species of tree in the ring-cupped oaks subgenus of the family Fagaceae. It has several common names, including bamboo-leaf oak, Chinese evergreen oak, and Chinese ring-cupped oak. Its Chinese name is ; pinyi ...

'', ''

Fraxinus biltmoreana ''Fraxinus americana'', the white ash or American ash, is a species of ''ash tree'' native to eastern and central North America. The species is native to mesophytic hardwood forests from Nova Scotia west to Minnesota, south to northern Florida, ...

'', ''

Fraxinus paxiana ''Fraxinus paxiana'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Oleaceae, native to central and southern China. A tree reaching , it is found in forested valley slopes, usually from above sea level. In the wild it is heavily infected with ''H ...

'', ''

Lagerstroemia indica ''Lagerstroemia indica'', the crape myrtle (also crepe myrtle, crêpe myrtle, or crepeflower) is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Lagerstroemia'' of the family Lythraceae. It is native species, native to the Indian Subcontinent (hence ...

'', ''

Magnolia ashei ''Magnolia macrophylla'', the bigleaf magnolia, is a deciduous magnolia native to the southeastern United States and eastern Mexico. This species boasts the largest simple leaf and single flower of any native plant in North America. Classificat ...

'', ''

Magnolia fraseri ''Magnolia fraseri'', commonly known as Fraser magnolia, mountain magnolia, earleaf cucumbertree, or mountain-oread, is a species of magnolia native to the south-eastern United States in the southern Appalachian Mountains and adjacent Atlantic an ...

'', ''

Nyssa sylvatica ''Nyssa sylvatica'', commonly known as tupelo, black tupelo, black gum or sour gum, is a medium-sized deciduous tree native to eastern North America from the coastal Northeastern United States and southern Ontario south to central Florida and e ...

'', ''

Parrotia persica ''Parrotia persica'', the Persian ironwood, is a deciduous tree in the family Hamamelidaceae, closely related to the witch-hazel genus '' Hamamelis''. It is native to Iran's Caspian region (where it is called ) and Iranian Azerbaijan (where it ...

'', ''

Quercus acuta ''Quercus acuta'', the Japanese evergreen oak, is an oak native to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China's Guizhou Province and Guangdong Province. Description Due to its foliage and habitat, it looks rather unlike most other oaks. ''Quercus ...

'', ''

Quercus dentata ''Quercus dentata'', also called Japanese emperor oak or daimyo oak ( ja, 柏, ''kashiwa''; ; ko, 떡갈나무, ''tteokgalnamu'') is a species of oak native to East Asia (Japan, Korea and China). The name of the tree is often translated as "swee ...

'', '' Quercus glandulifera'', ''

Quercus myrsinifolia ''Quercus myrsinifolia'' is an Asian species of tree in the ring-cupped oaks subgenus of the family Fagaceae. It has several common names, including bamboo-leaf oak, Chinese evergreen oak, and Chinese ring-cupped oak. Its Chinese name is ; piny ...

'', '' Quercus paxiana'', and ''

Quercus stellata ''Quercus stellata'', the post oak or iron oak, is a North American species of oak in the white oak section. It is a slow-growing oak that lives in dry areas on the edges of fields, tops of ridges also grows in poor soils, and is resistant to ro ...

''.

References

*
Jardins de France entry (French)

Fosse, Arboretum de la Fosse, Arboretum de la {{France-garden-stub