The Arboretum Vilmorin (4 hectares) is a 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, m ...

located at 2 rue d'Estienne d'Orves,

Verrières-le-Buisson Verrières-le-Buisson () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is from the centre of Paris, in the Essonne department just outside the inner ring of the Île-de-France. The commune borders the river Bièvre. History T ...

Essonne Essonne () is a department of France in the southern Île-de-France region. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659 across 194 communes.Île-de-France The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. It is open by appointment only. A newer portion of the family arboretum was acquired by the municipality in 1975, and is now open to the public as the

Arboretum municipal de Verrières-le-Buisson The Arboretum municipal de Verrières-le-Buisson (1.5 hectares), more formally the ''Arboretum municipal de Verrières-le-Buisson, Réserve naturelle volontaire Roger de Vilmorin, Maison des Arbres et des Oiseaux'', is a municipal arboretum located ...

. The arboretum is located on the site of a former hunting lodge of

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of V ...

, acquired in 1815 by Philippe-André de Vilmorin (1776-1862), who also began today's

Arboretum national des Barres The Arboretum national des Barres (35 hectares) is a national arboretum located in Nogent-sur-Vernisson, Loiret, Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is open daily in the warmer months; an admission fee is charged. Closure is planned for the end of y ...

in 1821. He transformed the lodge's grounds into a collection of trees and shrubs from around the world as missionaries and explorers sent specimens from the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The te ...

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...

, and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

. Plans for the arboretum walls are attributed to

André Le Nôtre André Le Nôtre (; 12 March 1613 – 15 September 1700), originally rendered as André Le Nostre, was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Lo ...

. Today's arboretum has been tended by seven generations of the Vilmorin family, assisted in recent years by a scientific committee. At present the arboretum contains some 2,280 identified species, with major collections of

Acer Acer may refer to: * ''Acer'' (plant), the genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples * Acer Inc., a computer company in Taiwan ** Acer Laboratories Incorporated, a subsidiary company of Acer, Inc., that designs and manufactures integrate ...

Berberis ''Berberis'' (), commonly known as barberry, is a large genus of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from tall, found throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world (apart from Australia). Species diversity is greatest in South America an ...

Deutzia ''Deutzia'' ( or ) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Hydrangeaceae, native to eastern and central Asia (from the Himalayas east to Japan and the Philippines), and Central America and also Europe. By far the highes ...

Euonymus ''Euonymus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the staff vine family, Celastraceae. Common names vary widely among different species and between different English-speaking countries, but include spindle (or spindle tree), burning-bush, strawb ...

Malus ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native to the temperate zo ...

Lonicera Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both conti ...

Philadelphus ''Philadelphus'' () (mock-orange) is a genus of about 60 species of shrubs from 3–20 ft (1–6 m) tall, native to North America, Central America, Asia and (locally) in southeast Europe. They are named "mock-orange" in reference to their ...

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ' ...

, and

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 nativ ...

. Specimens of interest include '' Carya buckleyi'', ''

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 reli ...

'', '' Chionanthus retusus'', '' Halesia diptera'', '' Juglans x intermedia'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Pinus bungeana ''Pinus bungeana'' ( English: Bunge's pine or lacebark pine or white-barked pine; Chinese: 白皮松 Japanese: シロマツ, ) is a pine tree native to northeastern and central China. It is a slow-growing tree that can grow to heights of ...

'', ''

Pseudolarix amabilis ''Pseudolarix amabilis'' is a species of coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. The species is commonly known as golden larch, but being more closely related to '' Keteleeria'', ''Abies'' and ''Cedrus'', is not a true larch (''Larix''). '' ...

'', '' Quercus persica'', ''

Sorbus torminalis ''Sorbus torminalis'', with common names wild service tree, chequers, and checker tree, is a species of tree in the mountain ash or rowan genus (''Sorbus'') of the rose family (Rosaceae), that is native to Europe, parts of northern Africa and we ...

'', ''

Taxodium ascendens ''Taxodium ascendens'', also known as pond cypress, is a deciduous conifer of the genus '' Taxodium'', native to North America. Many botanists treat it as a variety of bald cypress, '' Taxodium distichum'' (as ''T. distichum'' var. ''imbricatum' ...

'', and '' Torreya grandis''.

References

Mairie Verrières: Arboretum Vilmorin

* Vilmorin, Philippe Lévêque de, ''Hortus Vilmorianus, catalogue des plantes ligneuses et herbacées existent en 1905 dans les collections de Vilmorin et dans les cultures de Vilmorin-Andrieux et cie à Verrieres le Buisson'', Verrières, 1906. * ÄH Vilmorin, ML de, and D. Bois, ''Fruticetum Vilmorianum: Catalogus primarius'', Paris, 1904. * Liberty Hyde Bailey, ''The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture'', The Macmillan Company, 1914, page 347. Gardens in Essonne

Vilmorin Vilmorin is a French seed producer. The company has a long history in France, where it was family-controlled for almost two centuries, and today exists as a publicly traded company owned principally by agro-industrial cooperative Groupe Limagrai ...

{{France-garden-stub

See also

References