The José Celestino Mutis botanical garden is

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

's biggest

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. is ...

. It serves both as a recreation and research center with an emphasis on

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

and

Páramo Páramo () may 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 ...

ecosystems. The garden is located in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

and features plants from every Colombian altitude, climate and region. It was founded in 1955, in honor of botanist and astronomer

José Celestino Mutis José Celestino Bruno Mutis y Bosio (6 April 1732 – 11 September 1808) was a Spanish people, Spanish priest, botanist and mathematician. He was a significant figure in the Spanish American Enlightenment, whom Alexander von Humboldt met with ...

. The municipally owned park is famous nationwide and is a member of the internationally known BGCI (Botanic Gardens Conservation International). The garden has an

artificial waterfall An artificial waterfall is a water feature or fountain which imitates a natural waterfall. Artificial waterfalls have long been featured in traditional Japanese gardens, where they can serve to highlight a scene or to provide focus. The classic ...

and labs for studying plants and flowers. It also has public services such as a library and a tourist information desk. The garden is the only one in the nation specialized in preserving and collecting Andean species of flowers. Its 19.5 acres are full with collections of plants grouped by their original ecosystem. Among other curiosities, the park includes a

sun clock A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...

, a

palmetum {{Wiktionary A palmetum is a collection of palms (Arecaceae) and not a natural population of palms. Most palmeta are botanical gardens specialized in growing, research, conserve and display species of the family Arecaceae. History Palmeta as p ...

, an

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

collection, and a wide variety of

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

flowers.

History

Jose Celestino Mutis was born in Spain in the city of Cadiz in 1732. He graduated in medicine from the

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, in 2022 it has a student body of 57,214,U-Ranking Universidades español ...

. In 1783, Under the rule of

Charles III of Spain Charles III (; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was King of Spain in the years 1759 to 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I (1731–1735); King of Naples, as Charles VII; and King of Sicily, as Charles III (or V) (1735� ...

, he headed the

Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada The Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada () took place between 1783 and 1816 in the territories of New Granada, covering present-day Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, Peru and northern Brazil and western Guyana. The project was rejected ...

. The expedition was the most important scientific collaboration of the 18th century where over 6,600 new species of flora were discovered and described. Although most of his research was not published and most of the time never completed, he remains as one of the greatest promoters of science and knowledge in the Americas. In 1937,

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

Dr. Enrique Pérez Arbeláez tried to create a school of botany in the

National University A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. In the United States, the term "national university" connotes the highe ...

. Due to civil wars and disturbances the project was delayed. Finally, on August 6, 1955, the administrative council of Bogotá loaned Arbeláez 43.34 acres of land, and the garden was established. Arbeláez decided to name the garden after Mutis in his honor.

Symbols

'' Mutisia clematis'', in the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

was declared the symbolic plant of the garden. The plant is native to South America and was named in honor of Jose Celestino Mutis himself. Colombia's national plant and flower; the wax tree and the

respectively can also be found throughout the garden. The garden hosts over 5000 different species of orchids.

Programs

The garden is involved in joint research with many universities in Bogotá. It runs various workshops in

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

and the conservation of

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

. It also develops programs for children such as the ''Club Botánico de Ciencias para Niños'' (Botanical club of science for kids) in which children between the ages of five and twelve can learn the principles of

exploration Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

and conservation. The garden not only serves as a research center, but as a place to relax amidst the hub of the busy metropolis. It aims to serve as a space where citizens and tourists alike can learn, respect and protect the environment. In January 2013, The garden hosted ''SonEra Solar'' the first solar-powered music festival in Latin America. A group effort between the garden and the

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...

enabled the garden to have the first festival of its kind where the instruments and equipment were powered completely by

solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

. Famous Latin American artists headlined the concert such as:

Aterciopelados Aterciopelados (), also known as Los Aterciopelados, is a rock band from Colombia, led by Andrea Echeverri and Héctor Buitrago. Their music fuses rock with a variety of Colombian and Latin American musical traditions. Aterciopelados have reco ...

Sidestepper Sidestepper is a Colombian band formed in 1996 by English DJ/producer Richard Blair (born 17 June 1965, London). Several of their albums were co-written and co-produced with Colombian singer-songwriter and producer Iván Benavides, including the ...

and Wapapura Solar Sound among others.

Collections

The garden houses around 19000 live plants and around 2346 taxa of cultivated plants. The garden has five special collections dedicated to the conservation of Andean plants in danger of

extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

, these include the botanical families of

Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...

Bromeliaceae The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

Cactaceae A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle, or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil (herb), ba ...

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family (biology), family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan plants that ...

. Among the themed gardens, many collections can be found: *

Greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

s climatized at different temperatures where a variety of

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

can be found from different regions in

. From the Guajira, the

s to the heights of the Colombian

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

and even the

Amazon Rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

. * Andean woodland plants, *

Medicinal plants Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against h ...

, *

Aquatic plants Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic environments ( saltwater or freshwater). In lakes, rivers and wetlands, aquatic vegetations provide cover for aquat ...

, * Xerophytic plants and

cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

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 ...

References

External links