The Orto Botanico dell'Università di Genova (1 hectare), also known as the Orto Botanico di Genova, is a

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 ...

operated by the

University of Genoa The University of Genoa () is a public research university. It is one of the largest universities in Italy and it is located in the city of Genoa, on the Italian Riviera in the Liguria region of northwestern Italy. The original university was fou ...

, and located at Corso Dogali,

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The garden was established in 1803 by Professor Domenico Viviani on the former estate of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

College of St. Jerome in Balbi. By 1819 its catalog listed 1011

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 ...

, of which 60% were medicinal plants 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 ...

an origin. It was extended in 1835 by an additional 4,000 square metres spread over two large terraces. The first large greenhouse was built in 1859, and in 1865 additional land was purchased to bring the garden to its current size of about 10,000 m². Today the garden contains about 4000 specimens, representing about 2000

. Some date back a century or more, including fine specimens of ''

Cedrus libani ''Cedrus libani'', commonly known as cedar of Lebanon, Lebanon cedar, or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of large evergreen conifer in the genus ''Cedrus'', which belongs to the Pinaceae, pine family and is native species, native to the mountai ...

'', ''

Cupressus sempervirens ''Cupressus sempervirens'', the Mediterranean cypress (also known as Italian cypress, Tuscan cypress, Persian cypress, or pencil pine), is a species of cypress native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Iran. While some studies show it ha ...

'', '' Firmiana simplex'', ''

Gleditsia triacanthos The honey locust (''Gleditsia triacanthos''), also known as the thorny locust or thorny honeylocust, is a deciduous tree in the family Fabaceae, native to central North America where it is mostly found in the moist soil of river valleys. Honey ...

'', and ''

Sequoia sempervirens ''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995: 606–607 is the sole living species of the genus ''Sequoia (genus), Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast ...

'', as well as ''

Angiopteris evecta ''Angiopteris evecta'', commonly known as the king fern, giant fern, elephant fern, oriental vessel fern, Madagascar tree fern, or mule's foot fern, is a very large rainforest fern in the family Marattiaceae native to most parts of Southeast Asia ...

'', ''

Arbutus canariensis ''Arbutus canariensis'', known in Spanish as ''madroño canario'', is a species of shrub or tree in the Ericaceae, heath family. It is Endemism, endemic to the Canary Islands of Spain, specifically Tenerife, La Gomera, Gran Canaria, El Hierro, an ...

'', ''

Cibotium regale ''Cibotium regale'', common name royal cibotium or royal Mexican tree fern, is a species of tropical tree fern belonging to the family Cibotiaceae. Description ''Cibotium regale'' can reach a height of and a diameter of . Leaves are bipinnate, ...

'', '' Cibotium schiedei'', ''

Diospyros kaki ''Diospyros kaki'', the Oriental persimmon, Chinese persimmon, Japanese persimmon or kaki persimmon, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Diospyros''. Although its first botanical description was not published until 1780,Publish ...

'', ''

Ginkgo biloba ''Ginkgo biloba'', commonly known as ginkgo or gingko ( ), also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of gymnosperm tree native to East Asia. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million year ...

'', '' Peumus boldus'', ''

Phoenix canariensis ''Phoenix canariensis'', the Canary Island date palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family Arecaceae, native to the Canary Islands off the coast of Northwestern Africa. It is a relative of ''Phoenix dactylifera'', the true date pal ...

'', ''

Phytolacca dioica ''Phytolacca dioica'', commonly known as ombú in Spanish and umbu in Portuguese, is a massive evergreen tree in the Pokeweed Family (''Phytolaccaceae'') native to the Pampas of South America. As its specific epithet suggests, it is dioecious, ...

'', ''

Quercus laurifolia ''Quercus laurifolia'' (swamp laurel oak, diamond-leaf oak, water oak, obtusa oak, laurel oak) is a medium-sized semi-evergreen oak in the red oak section ''Quercus'' sect. ''Lobatae''. It is native to the southeastern and south-central United ...

'', and ''

Washingtonia filifera ''Washingtonia filifera'' pygmy date palm, the desert fan palm, California fan palm, or California palm,Flora of North America Association. ''Flora of North America: North of Mexico Volume 22: Magnoliophyta: Alismatidae, Arecidae, Commelinidae (i ...

''. The garden's six greenhouses cover about 1,000 m² on three floors, with contents as follows:

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

s; tropical plants including 25

Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family (biology), family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few spe ...

varieties and a ''

Ravenala madagascariensis ''Ravenala madagascariensis'', commonly known as the traveller's tree, traveller's palm or East-West palm, is a species of monocotyledonous flowering plant found in Madagascar. It is not a true palm but a member of the family Strelitziaceae. N ...

''; tropical aquatic plants;

succulent 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 ...

s including 30

Euphorbia ''Euphorbia'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family (biology), family Euphorbiaceae. Euphorbias range from tiny annual plants to large and long-lived trees, with perhaps the tallest being ''Eu ...

species; herbaceous plants including

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, ...

and

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 ...

; and a

Cycadaceae ''Cycas'' is a genus of cycad, and the only genus in the family Cycadaceae with all other genera of cycad being divided between the Stangeriaceae and Zamiaceae families. '' Cycas circinalis'', a species endemic to India, was the first cycad speci ...

collection.

References

Orto Botanico dell'Università di Genova (Italian)

BGCI entry

* S. Gentile, "L'Orto Botanico dell'Università di Genova", in ''Orti Botanici, Giardini Alpini'', F. M. Raimondo (ed), Arboreti Italiani, 1: 105–111. Edizioni Grifo, Palermo. 1992. * L. Minuto, "Il catalogo dell'Orto Botanico redatto da Domenico Viviani nel 1819", ''Museol. sci.'' XI, (1–2): 29–64. 1994. * R.E.G. Pichi Sermolli, "L'Orto Botanico di Genova", ''Agricoltura'' 12(4): 3–6. Rome. 1963. {{DEFAULTSORT:Orto Botanico Dell Universita di Genova Botanical gardens in Italy Gardens in Liguria University of Genoa Buildings and structures in Genoa Culture in Genoa 1803 establishments in Italy 1803 in science Metropolitan City of Genoa Tourist attractions in Genoa

See also

References