The Arboretum d'Harcourt (11 hectares) is a historic

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

located on the grounds of the 14th-century

Château d'Harcourt The Château d'Harcourt, situated in the ''Communes in France, commune'' of Harcourt, Eure, Harcourt in the Eure Departments of France, department of France, is the cradle of the Harcourt family. The castle is one of the best preserved castles in ...

in Harcourt,

Eure Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The arboretum is one of the oldest in France, dating to 1802 when Louis-Gervais Delamare acquired the castle and its grounds. He introduced

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. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

cultivation on 200 hectares. After his death in 1827 the arboretum was bequeathed to the ''Société royale d'agriculture'', which in 1833 charged botanist

François André Michaux François André Michaux (16 August 1770 – 23 October 1855) was a French people, French botany, botanist, son of André Michaux and the namesake of Michaux State Forest in Pennsylvania. Michaux ''père'' botanized in North America for nearl ...

to establish the arboretum. In 1852

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n species were planted, followed from 1855 to 1860 by those of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. Since 1999 the arboretum has been the property of the ''Conseil Général du l'Eure'', and today contains more than 3,000 woody plants representing about 470

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. The chateau's grounds also contain a forest of native and exotic species, with walking paths.

References

External links

*
1001 Fleurs entry (French)

Conservatoire des Jardins et Paysages entry (French)
Harcourt, Arboretum d' Harcourt, Arboretum d' Taxa named by André Michaux {{France-garden-stub

See also

References

External links