The Arboretum de Pézanin or Arboretum Domanial de Pézanin (''Federal Arboretum of Pézanin'') is an

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

Dompierre-les-Ormes Dompierre-les-Ormes () is a commune in the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France. It is a rural and touristic village, with characteristic landscapes: little mountains crowded with forests and pastures. The main part ...

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is Bo ...

Bourgogne Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

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 one of the oldest and richest forest collections in

, with trees and plants from all around the world.

History

The arboretum was established in 1903 by the famous French botanist

Philippe de Vilmorin Joseph-Marie-Philippe Lévêque de Vilmorin (21 May 1872 – 29 June 1917), generally known as Philippe de Vilmorin, was a noted French botanist and plant collector, and a member of the celebrated Vilmorin family of horticulturists. In 1903 Vilmo ...

(1872-1917), ''seigneur'' of Audour. He created the arboretum around the lake on his estate at Pézanin. Between 1903 and 1923, over 1100 species were planted, mainly from North America and Asia. After that, it fell into a period of abandonment until it was acquired by the state in 1935. It is now owned by the French Ministry of Agriculture and managed by the '' Office national des Forêts (ONF)''. Although the arboretum was damaged by storms in 1981 and 1999, it has recently undergone renewed plantings. Today it contains more than 450

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 ...

of trees, with walking paths and a pond. There is also a

geocaching Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific l ...

sudocache.

The arboretum

Description

The ONF wants to open the arboretum to a large audience, and creates walking paths and puts tags on each trees to indicate species, and other useful information. The arboretum is partly accessible to disabled people: the trail around the lake was specially made to allow their access. There is a forest house, a picnic area and parking inside and outside the site.

Access

The arboretum is accessible through the RCEA (Route Centre Europe Atlantique), exit ''Dompierre-les-Ormes'', at 20 minutes from

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as M� ...

( motorway of the sun, train and TGV station,

A40 autoroute The Autoroute A40 is a motorway in France that extends from Mâcon on the west to Passy on the east, terminating not far from Chamonix and the Mont Blanc Tunnel. The road runs through Bresse, the high southern Jura Mountains, northern Prealps a ...

,...), 1 hour from

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

and 2 hour from

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

The Lab71

Since 2004, the site of Pézanin has been completed by the ''Lab71'' located two minutes from the arboretum. The Lab is an exhibition and education site.La Galerie du bois (English)
/ref> Throughout the season, the Lab organizes themed events and conferences. It aims through fun and educational activities set in temporary exhibitions to encourage visitors to discover and touch wood or to take a stroll or a deer walk through the exceptional setting of the forest.

Gallery

Image:Arboretum de Pézanin 2014.jpg, Image:Arboretum et lac de Pézanin.jpg, Image:Aire de pique-nique de l'Arboretum de Pézanin.jpg, Image:Arboretum de Pézanin.jpg, Image:La galerie européenne de la forêt et du bois.jpg,

References

BaLaDO.fr entry (French)

Bien Public article
"L'arboretum de Pézanin célèbre ses 100 ans", October 5, 2003. (French)
Conservatoire des Jardins et Paysages entry (French)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pezanin, Arboretum de Gardens in Saône-et-Loire Pezanin