The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a

physic garden A physic garden is a type of herb garden with medicinal plants. Known since at least 800, they are the predecessors of botanical gardens. History Modern botanical gardens were preceded by medieval physic gardens, often monastic gardens, that ...

to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies four sites across Scotland—

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Dawyck, Logan and Benmore—each with its own specialist collection. The RBGE's living collection consists of more than 13,302 plant species (34,422 accessions),Rae D. et al. (2012) Catalogue of Plants 2012. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. whilst the

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

contains in excess of 3 million preserved specimens. The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is an executive non-departmental public body of the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

. The Edinburgh site is the main garden and the headquarters of the public body, which is led by Regius Keeper Simon Milne.

History

The Edinburgh

botanic 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 ...

was founded in 1670 at St. Anne's Yard, near

Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly known as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood has s ...

, by Robert Sibbald and Andrew Balfour. It is the second oldest botanic garden in the UK after Oxford's. The plant collection used as the basis of the garden was the private collection of Sir Patrick Murray, 2nd Lord Elibank, moved from his home at Livingston Peel in 1672 following his death in September 1671. The original site was "obtained of John Brown, gardener of the North Yardes in the Holyrood Abby, an inclosure of some 40 foot of measure every way. By what we procured from Levingstone and other gardens, we made a collection of eight or nine hundred plants yr." This site proved too small, and in 1676 grounds belonging to Trinity Hospital were leased by Balfour from the City Council: this second garden was sited just to the east of the

Nor Loch The Nor Loch, also known as the Nor' Loch and the North Loch, was a man-made loch formerly in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the area now occupied by Princes Street Gardens and Edinburgh Waverley railway station, Waverley station which lie between t ...

, down from the High Street. In the spring of 1689, for certain strategic military reasons, the

which lay west of the Physic Garden was drained, resulting in the flooding of the garden (which at this stage had wholly relocated to the Trinity Hospital site), with much mud and general rubbish being deposited, to the ruination of many of the plants. Partly for this reason and partly due to necessary expansion the facility relocated to the Holyrood site in 1695. John Ainslie's 1804 map shows it as the "Old Physick Garden" to the east of the North Bridge. The site was subsequently occupied by tracks of the

North British Railway The North British Railway was one of the two biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, ...

, and a plaque at platform 11 of the Waverley railway station marks its location. In 1763, the garden's collections were moved away from the city's pollution to a larger (five acre) "Physick Garden" on the west side of Leith Walk, covering the area now called Bellevue, all under the control of Prof John Hope. This site is shown in Ainslie's 1804 map. The site is today known as Hopetoun Crescent Gardens and is one of the collection of New Town Gardens. Some time prior to Hope's death (1786) he was brought Turkish

rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The plant is a herbaceous perennial that grows from short, thick rhizomes. ...

seeds by Bruce of Kinnaird and this was the first rhubarb grown in Great Britain. As this proved successful over 3000 plants were grown as rhubarb was previously an expensive import (used as a medicine). A cottage from the garden's original site remained on Leith Walk for over one hundred years. In 2008, the building was moved brick by brick to a site within the current gardens. The project was completed in 2016. The garden was a popular destination for botanists and supplied plants to other gardens such as

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

. Hope erected a monument to

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

on the site in 1778. In the early 1820s under the direction of the Curator, William McNab, the garden moved west to its present location (adjacent to Inverleith Row), and the Leith Walk site was built over between Hopetoun Crescent and Haddington Place. The Temperate Palm House, which remains the tallest in Scotland, was built in 1858. In 1877, the city acquired Inverleith House from the estate of Cosmo Innes and added it to the existing gardens, opening the remodelled grounds to the public in 1881. The botanic garden at Benmore became the first Regional Garden of the RBGE in 1929. It was followed by the gardens at Logan and Dawyck in 1969 and 1978. At present: The RBGE is creating a digital record of its renowned Herbarium collection of over three million preserved plant specimens from 157 countries. Historically hard to access, it is now being digitised into high-resolution images that can be viewed by anyone with an internet connection. The digitised platform now sees requests come in from across the globe from students, scientists and plant enthusiasts. The one millionth specimen to be digitised was Stereocaulon vesuvianum, a species of lichen collected from Ben Nevis in 2021. RBGE lichenologist Dr Rebecca Yahr, who collected the specimen during a climb up Scotland's tallest mountain, said: "Celebrating the milestone with this important specimen is an exciting opportunity for us to highlight Scotland's unique biodiversity and extend RBGE's mission to research and understand lichens more generally."

Notable staff and residents

* Charles Alston (1683–1760), 3rd Regius Keeper 1716–1760 * William Arthur (1680–1716), 2nd Regius Keeper 1715 *

Isaac Bayley Balfour Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, KBE, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (31 March 1853 – 30 November 1922) was a Scottish botanist. He was Regius Prof ...

(1853–1922), 9th Regius Keeper 1888–1922 * John Hutton Balfour (1808–1884), 7th Regius Keeper 1845–1879, lived in Inverleith House * Stephen Blackmore (b. 1952), 15th Regius Keeper 1999–2013 * Francis Buchanan (1762–1829), Keeper from 1814 to 1829 * Roland Edgar Cooper (1890–1962), curator * Alexander Dickson (1836–1887), 8th Regius Keeper 1880–1887 * William Evans (1851–1922), born here (son of William Wilson Evans, Curator) * Harold Roy Fletcher (1907–1978), 11th Regius Keeper 1956–1970 * Mary Gibby (1949–2024), pteridologist and professor * Robert Graham (1786–1845), 6th Regius Keeper 1820–1845 * John Hope (1725–1786), 4th Regius Keeper 1761–1786 and Keeper of the Leith Walk site * David Stanley Ingram (b. 1941) 14th Regius Keeper 1990–1998 * Cosmo Innes (1798–1874), original owner of Inverleith House * John Mackay (1772–1802), laid out the Leith Walk site * Douglas Mackay Henderson (1927–2007), 12th Regius Keeper 1970–1987 * William Gregor MacKenzie (1904–1995), Curator, Chelsea Physic Garden * John McNeill (b. 1933), 13th Regius Keeper 1987–1989 * Simon Milne (b. 1959), 16th Regius Keeper 2014–present * Matthew Young Orr (1883–1953), botanist *

William Roxburgh William Roxburgh FRSE FRCPE Linnean Society of London, FLS (3/29 June 1751 – 18 February 1815) was a Scottish people, Scottish surgeon and botanist who worked extensively in India, describing species and working on economic botany. He is known ...

(1751–1815), Keeper in 1814 *

Daniel Rutherford Daniel Rutherford (3 November 1749 – 15 November 1819) was a Scottish physician, chemist and botanist who is known for the isolation of nitrogen in 1772. Life Rutherford was born on 3 November 1749, the son of Anne Mackay and Professor J ...

(1749–1819), 5th Regius Keeper 1786–1819 * James Sutherland (c. 1639–1719), 1st Regius Keeper 1699–1715 * George Taylor (1904–1993), director * William Wright Smith (1875–1956), 10th Regius Keeper 1922–1956

The garden at Edinburgh

The Botanic Garden's main site in Edinburgh is a hugely important player in a worldwide network of institutions seeking to ensure that

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 ...

is not further eroded. Located one mile from the city centre it covers . The RBGE is actively involved in, and coordinates numerous

in situ is a Latin phrase meaning 'in place' or 'on site', derived from ' ('in') and ' ( ablative of ''situs'', ). The term typically refers to the examination or occurrence of a process within its original context, without relocation. The term is use ...

and

ex situ conservation FILE:Entrance to the Seed Vault (cropped).jpg, Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Svalbard Global Seed Bank, an ' conservation ''Ex situ'' conservation () is the process of protecting an endangered species, variety, or breed of plant or animal outside ...

projects both in the UK and internationally. The three main cross-cutting themes of scientific work at the RBGE are: Scottish

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 ...

, Plants &

Climate Change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

, and Conservation. In addition to the RBGE's scientific activities the garden remains a popular destination for both tourists and locals. Locally known as "The Botanics", the garden is a popular place to go for a walk, particularly with young families. Entrance to the botanic garden is free, although a small entry charge exists for the glasshouses. During the year the garden hosts many events including live performances, guided tours and exhibitions. The RBGE is also an important centre for education, offering taught courses across all levels. In 2009, the John Hope Gateway was opened. John Hope was the first Regius Keeper of RBGE.

Living collection

Nearly 273,000 individual plants are grown at the Botanics in Edinburgh or its three smaller satellite gardens (known as Regional Gardens) located in other parts of Scotland. These represent around 13,300 species from all over the world, or about 4% of all known plant species. The RBGE Living Collection catalogue is availabl
here
and updated nightly. Some notable collections at the botanic garden Edinburgh include: * Alpine Plants *Chinese Hillside *

Cryptogamic A cryptogam (scientific name ''Cryptogamae'') is a plant, in the broad sense of the word, or a plant-like organism that share similar characteristics, such as being Multicellular organism, multicellular, Photosynthesis, photosynthetic, and pr ...

Garden *The Glasshouses **Palmhouse ***Temperate Palms ***Tropical Palms **Orchids and Cycads **Ferns and Fossils **Plants and people (including Giant Water Lily pond) **Temperate lands **Rainforest Riches **Arid Lands **Montane tropical house (including

Carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods, and occasionally small mammals and birds. They have adapted to grow in waterlo ...

s) **Wet Tropical House *Peat Walls *The Queen Mother's memorial garden. *Rock Garden *Scottish Heath Garden *Woodland Garden

Herbarium

The RBGE

(situated in a purpose-built facility at the Edinburgh site) is considered a world-leading botanical collection, housing in excess of 3 million specimens. Prior to the formation of the Herbarium, plant collections tended to be the private property of the Regius Keeper. The Herbarium in its present form came with the fusion of the collections of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and the Botanical Society of Edinburgh in 1839–40. RBGE's Herbarium moved into its present, purpose-built home in 1964. Over the years, a large number of collections have been added, belonging to individuals such as R.K. Greville and John Hutton Balfour, and institutions including the Universities of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

and Hull. The most important historical collection is that of George Walker Arnott, which came with the University of Glasgow's foreign herbarium deposited on permanent loan in 1965. This collection contains specimens from all the major mid-19th century collectors, especially from India, North and South America, and South Africa, including type material of species described by 'Hooker & Arnott'. From the early 20th century, collections have been made by members of staff. Approx a third of the herbarium is in a searchable database. The ''

Index Herbariorum The ''Index Herbariorum'' provides a global directory of herbaria (singular, herbarium; plural, herbaria) and their associated staff. This searchable online index allows scientists rapid access to data related to 3,400 locations where a total of ...

'' code assigned to the RBGE herbarium is E and it is used when citing housed specimens.

Library

RBGE's Library is Scotland's national reference collection for specialist botanical and horticultural resources. Housing around 70,000 books and 150,000 periodicals, the research library is one of the country's largest. It has been built up to support the specific subject fields researched and taught at RBGE. Garden staff and students are its main users, along with visiting researchers. However, as a national reference collection, the Library is also open to members of the public, either in person or by telephone or e-mail.

Inverleith House

Inverleith House is an 18th-century building, located centrally in the modern botanic gardens. From 1960 to 1984 it was the original base of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, with exhibits in the house and in the gardens, before it moved to larger premises in Belford Road. Since then, Inverleith House has functioned as a contemporary art gallery, showing a programme of temporary exhibitions by invited artists. Its spring programmes feature works and specimens from the historical collections of the Botanics, together with exhibitions by modern and contemporary artists. The gallery is curated by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Regional specialist gardens

Benmore

Situated on the West Coast of Scotland, Benmore Botanic Garden experiences a wetter and milder oceanic climate than the main site in Edinburgh. Benmore grows trees and shrubs from high rainfall areas, especially conifers and rhododendrons. Highlights of the collection include an avenue of

Sequoiadendron ''Sequoiadendron'' is a genus of evergreen trees, with three species, only one of which survives to the present: * ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'', extant species, extant, commonly known as wellingtonia, giant redwood and giant sequoia, growing nat ...

and a recently refurbished Fernery, exhibiting rare ferns from both Britain and abroad.

Dawyck

Situated to the south of the Scottish Border town of

Peebles Peebles () is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in ...

, Dawyck Botanic Garden is particularly suitable for hardy plants from the world's cooler, drier areas. Dawyck is also renowned for its high diversity of

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

and

cryptogam A cryptogam (scientific name ''Cryptogamae'') is a plant, in the broad sense of the word, or a plant-like organism that share similar characteristics, such as being multicellular, photosynthetic, and primarily immobile, that reproduces via sp ...

ics.

Logan

Logan, Scotland's most exotic garden, has an almost sub-tropical climate, and provides ideal growing conditions for southern hemisphere plants.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Medal

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Medal The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Medal, instituted in 2010, is awarded from time to time to recognise an outstanding individual contribution in any field related to the work of the RBGE (either by a member of staff or by any other person). The medal, struck in silver, has a sibbaldia motif on one face and a portrait of Robert Sibbald on the other. *2010: Edward Kemp *2011: Sir Tim Smit *2013: Vernon H. Heywood *2015: Peter H. Raven *2018: Sanjeev K. Rai *2022: Jin Chen *2023: Sandra Díaz

Gallery

File:Edinburgh gardens 1990 11.jpg, The Rock Garden, circa 1990 File:Edinburgh Botanic Garden (39369698954).jpg, Trees in autumn File:Maison Inverleith Jardin Botanique Royal Édimbourg 6.jpg, Inverleith House File:The Royal Botanic Garden (3414543925).jpg, View of the pond File:Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh East gate.jpg, East Gate of the Garden File:West Gate entrance to Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Gardens 01.jpg, West Gate entrance to the Garden File:CaledoniaHall.jpg, Caledonia Hall File:RBGE Palm House interior 04.jpg, Interior of the Palm House File:Edinburgh Botanics seat.jpg, Seat in Edinburgh Botanics File:Benmore.jpg, The avenue of Giant Redwoods at Benmore

References

External links

*
Edinburgh Journal of Botany / Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
at

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries. Its holdings include content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digit ...

Digital Library
Edinburgh Journal of Botany
at

SCImago Journal Rank The SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) indicator is a measure of the prestige of scholarly journals that accounts for both the number of citations received by a journal and the prestige of the journals where the citations come from. Etymology SCImago ...

Botanical Scientific Journals
{{Authority control Parks and commons in Edinburgh

Botanic 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 ...

Gardens in Edinburgh Tourist attractions in Edinburgh 1670 establishments in Scotland Book publishing companies of Scotland Libraries in Edinburgh Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Research organisations in Scotland