The Arboretum de Jouéou (1.9 hectares), also known as the Arboretum Henri Gaussen, is an

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 Route de l'Hospice de France in

Bagnères-de-Luchon Bagnères-de-Luchon (; ), also referred to as just Luchon, is a Communes of France, commune and spa town in the Haute-Garonne Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie region of south-western France. T ...

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; , ; ''Upper Garonne'') is a department in the southwestern French region of Occitanie. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's fourth-largest. ...

Midi-Pyrénées Midi-Pyrénées (; or ; ) is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Occitania. It was the largest region of Metropolitan France by area, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark. ...

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 ...

. It opens daily. The arboretum was created 1921-1928 by Professor

Henri Gaussen Marcel-Henri Gaussen (14 July 1891 in Cabrières-d'Aigues (Vaucluse) – 27 July 1981 in Toulouse), was a French botanist and biogeographer. In 1926, he defended his thesis on "the vegetation of the eastern half of the Pyrenees", which laid the ...

, and continues to be managed by the Jardin botanique Henri Gaussen of the

Université Paul Sabatier Paul Sabatier University (''Université Paul Sabatier'' , UPS, also known as Toulouse III) was a French university, in the Academy of Toulouse. It was one of the several successor universities of the University of Toulouse, established in 1229, ...

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. It contains 250

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

from around the world, of which 186 are naturally occurring and 64 hybrids and cultivars, organized systematically with

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

n species to the west, and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

, 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 ...

to the east. The garden is arranged in two sections: * The botanical collection, in which each conifer species is represented by four individuals, containing over 100 species, mostly from

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 ...

and

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

. * The collection of breeds and varieties, which compares side-by-side specimens of the same species but of different geographic origin. The arboretum has been recognized by the ''Conservatoire des Collections Végétales Spécialisées'' (CCVS) for its conifer collection.

References

* F. Flous and H. Gaussen, "L'Arboretum de Jouéou", in ''Travaux du Laboratoire Forestier de Toulouse'', Tome VI, Vol. I, Article IV, Toulouse : Faculté des Sciences, 1937.
Tela-Botanica entry (French)

Tela-Botanica wiki (French)

Bois Foret entry (French)
Gardens in Haute-Garonne Arboreta in France {{France-garden-stub

See also

References