Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo is the full name of the

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 ...

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that ...

, one of the Canary Islands. "Jardín Botánico Canario" means "Botanical Garden of the Canaries", while the additional words "Viera y Clavijo" honor the pioneering Spanish cleric and scholar

José Viera y Clavijo José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

(1731–1813), who attempted to found a botanical garden in the Canary Islands in the late eighteenth century. José de Viera y Clavijo

The Botanical Garden Viera y Clavijo is located in the northeast of Gran Canaria, in Tafira Alta, approximately 7 kilometers southwest of the capital city

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auto ...

. Thus it is located inland from Las Palmas, a few kilometers away from Santa Brígida.

History

Establishing this botanical garden was the life work of the Swedish-Spanish botanist Erik Ragnar Svensson (1910–1973), who devoted many years to searching for the optimal site, one that could successfully accommodate as many as possible of the highly diverse plant species of the Canary Islands. He finally settled on a steep slope of the Barranco de Guiniguada in the vicinity of Tafira Alta, featuring a waterfall and shallow caves in the cliff face. Work on laying out the garden began in 1952, and the Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo was officially opened in 1959. Svensson served as its first director. Following his death in a traffic accident in 1973, David Bramwell was appointed his successor in 1974.

Description

The garden comprises approximately 27 acres (10 hectares), on which approximately 500 plant species endemic to the Canary Islands are cultivated. Important divisions are the "Garden of the Islands" (Jardín de las Islas), the "Garden of Cacti and Succulents" (Jardín de Cactus y Suculentas), where approximately 10,000 cultivars of

succulents In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

are on display, the "Macaronesian Ornamental Garden" (Jardín Macaronésico Ornamental), and the “Hidden Garden” (El Jardín Escondido) with greenhouse. Also worthy of mention are the pinetum (El Pínar) and the "Laurel-leaved Forests" (Bosque de Laurísílva), featuring trees which once covered most of Macaronesia prior to Spanish settlement. At the "Fountain of the Wisemen" (La Fuente de Los Sabios), botanists who discovered and described the flora of the Canary Islands are honored. In 1983, the garden established a seed bank for the roughly 400 tree species endemic to the Canaries and other

Macaronesian islands Macaronesia (Portuguese: ''Macaronésia,'' Spanish: ''Macaronesia'') is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the North Atlantic, off the coasts of Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of Atlantic oceanic islands ...

. A

germplasm Germplasm are living genetic resources such as seeds or tissues that are maintained for the purpose of animal and plant breeding, preservation, and other research uses. These resources may take the form of seed collections stored in seed banks, t ...

bank was subsequently established as well. A great number of species have been identified and described by botanists associated with the garden over the past several years, and the garden contributes to species preservation programs through its research work. Its facilities include a library, a herbarium, and laboratories, and it publishes the journal ''Botánica Macaronésica''. The garden is open to visitors year round.

Gallery

File:Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo.jpg, The garden File:Cacti and euphorbias through pines.jpg, Cacti and euphorbias File:Pine Forest.jpg, The pine forest File:Waterfall at Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo.jpg, The waterfall File:Jardín Botánico Canario, Jardín de Cactus y Suculentas.JPG, The garden of cacti File:Viera y Clavijo D81 6309 (32067260690).jpg, Jardín de Viera y Clavijo File:Viera y Clavijo D81 6312 (32324189531).jpg, Jardín de Viera y Clavijo File:Viera y Clavijo D81 6314 (32067314730).jpg, Jardín de Viera y Clavijo File:Viera y Clavijo D81 6317 (31602012754).jpg, Jardín de Viera y Clavijo File:Viera y Clavijo D81 6319 (31602041464).jpg, Jardín de Viera y Clavijo File:Viera y Clavijo D81 6320 (32405289946).jpg, Jardín de Viera y Clavijo File:Viera y Clavijo D81 6324 (31633668983).jpg, Jardín de Viera y Clavijo

External links

Webpage des Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo
(Spanish)
Flickr Fotostream of the Jardín Botánico
* Photographs of plants which grow i
the botanical garden
August 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jardin Botanico Canario Viera y Clavijo Botanical gardens in the Canary Islands Gran Canaria