The Arboretum du Cranou (14 hectares) is an arboretum located within the ''Forêt du Cranou'' (600 hectares) in Saint-Eloy, Finistère,

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, France. It is open daily without charge. The arboretum was created in 1970 by the ''

Office national des forêts The National Forests Office (french: Office national des forêts), or ONF, is a Government of France agency that manages the state forests, city forests and biological reserves. ONF is based in Paris. The office is responsible for the sustain ...

'' (ONF) and the '' Institut national de recherché agronomique'' (INRA) for reforestation studies. As such, it contained experimental plantings of a limited number of

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 ...

, each represented by many subjects, including 51 species of hardwoods and conifers such as Sitka spruce,

larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains fur ...

, and

cryptomeria ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae, formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' ...

. The arboretum was refreshed in 2006 to add 45 species (100 specimens), with an additional 90 species (250 specimens) planted in 2007, and a plan of reaching 150 species.

References

Le Figaro, "Des arbres venus d'ailleurs à l'arboretum du Cranou", 15 October 2007

Keleier Hanvec: Bimestriel d’information et de liaison, Novembre-Décembre 2006

Gardens in Finistère Cranou {{France-garden-stub

See also

References