The Botanical Garden of Mérida ( es, Centro Jardín Botánico de Mérida) is a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

in the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of Mérida in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. It was founded in 1991 by the University of the Andes, which is based in Mérida, in order to promote conservation and research in relation to the fauna and flora of the

Venezuelan Andes The Venezuelan Andes (Spanish: ''Andes Venezolanos'') also simply known as the Andes (Spanish: ''Los Andes'') in Venezuela, are a mountain system that form the northernmost extension of the Andes. They are fully identified, both by their geologi ...

. The garden was opened to the public on December 8, 2002.- It occupies an area of 44 hectares,Jardin Botánico de Mérida

Botanic Gardens Conservation International Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) is a plant conservation charity based in Kew, Surrey, England. It is a membership organisation, working with 800 botanic gardens in 118 countries, whose combined work forms the world's largest pla ...

donated by the university for its development. It is divided into zones according to the type of flora encountered. Most of the area is occupied by a forest of native

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 ...

s. The most important collection of the garden consists of

bromelia ''Bromelia'' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies. It is the type genus of the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae, and its type species is '' B. karatas''. ''Bromelia'' species are ch ...

s, which are present in more than 100 species and 600 individuals: it is the largest collection of bromelias in

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

Physical Characteristics

The Botanical Garden of Mérida is located on the southeast side of the mountains of the

Sierra Nevada de Mérida The Sierra Nevada de Mérida is the highest mountain range in the largest massif in Venezuela, the Cordillera de Mérida, which in turn is part of the northern extent of the Cordillera de los Andes (Andes Mountains). The Sierra Nevada de Mérida i ...

, in a hilly region where the relief varies between areas with steep slopes, areas with a gentle slope and a plateau of about three hectares. The botanical garden elevation hovers around 1,800 meters above sea level and average annual rainfall is 1400 mm. The soil is gray and acidic. It has a low content of organic matter but it is high in exchangeable aluminum, influenced by alluvial contributions from a creek that runs through the park and colluvial deposition from the upper parts of the ''

páramo Páramo () can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

''. The surface layer is covered by a sequence of quartz sandstones, thick, with interbedded siltstone and sandstone of a reddish color. Delineations of soil map units defined with five units of which Gaia (48.8%) and Ga (34.5%) occupy 78.3% of the botanical garden area.

Gallery

File:Jardin Botanico Merida Edo Merida.JPG, File:Jardín Botánico Mérida..JPG, File:Jardín Botánico de Mérida 6.JPG, File:El Bolivar desde el jardín botánico.JPG, File:Aechmea Blue Rain.jpg,

Notes

External links

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Official Page
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Information Page
Botanical gardens in Venezuela Flora of Venezuela Geography of Mérida (state) Tourist attractions in Mérida (state) {{garden-stub