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128-661: The York Museum Gardens are botanic gardens in the centre of York , England, beside the River Ouse . They cover an area of 10 acres (4.0 ha) of the former grounds of St Mary's Abbey , and were created in the 1830s by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society along with the Yorkshire Museum which they contain. The gardens are held in trust by the City of York Council and are managed by

256-528: A catapult . Five Roman stone coffins are in the Multangular Tower, which were brought from graveyards in other areas of York. A 76-foot (23 m) section of 4th-century wall connects the Multangular Tower to a small interval tower. The side of the wall and towers facing into Museum Gardens is carefully faced in stone, as during the Roman period it was on display. The other side is rougher because it

384-457: A 90   percent 10-year survival rate. Another major threat to the survival of A. araucana , is the presence of non-native seed eating species, in particular mammals, which have been shown to severely restrict the reproduction of the tree in comparison to native seed eaters. However it is still unclear as to how large a role these invasive species play in threatening this species of tree. One study in particular found that native species played

512-545: A Victorian Gothic revival style. The lodge now houses the Yorkshire Philosophical Society's offices and reading room. The curator 's house ('Manor cottage'), built in 1844 and originally called the keeper's house, is located by King's Manor . It was designed by J. B. Atkinson and was built using reclaimed limestone from St. Mary's Abbey . The Tempest Anderson Hall is a 300-seat auditorium-style lecture theatre built in 1912 as an annexe to

640-536: A bear, a golden eagle, and several monkeys, amongst other animals. In 1831, a bear from the menagerie got loose in the gardens and reportedly chased the Keeper of the Yorkshire Museum, John Phillips , and Reverend Harcourt into an outbuilding. The bear was subsequently sent to London Zoo . The gardens are home to a population of semi-tame grey squirrels and many species of birds. A 1970 report covering

768-491: A botanical garden is defined by its scientific or academic connection, then the first true botanical gardens were established with the revival of learning that occurred in the European Renaissance . These were secular gardens attached to universities and medical schools, used as resources for teaching and research. The superintendents of these gardens were often professors of botany with international reputations,

896-701: A collection of Roman and medieval stonework. In 1999, the hospital and surrounding area in Museum Gardens was one of three sites in York to feature in a live edition of the British Channel 4 television show Time Team . Between the Museum Street entrance to the gardens and the River Ouse is a short stretch of York's city walls , which ends at the medieval Lendal Tower. William Hincks

1024-403: A department of an educational institution, it may be related to a teaching program. In any case, it exists for scientific ends and is not to be restricted or diverted by other demands. It is not merely a landscaped or ornamental garden, although it may be artistic, nor is it an experiment station or yet a park with labels on the plants. The essential element is the intention of the enterprise, which

1152-528: A factor that probably contributed to the creation of botany as an independent discipline rather than a descriptive adjunct to medicine. The botanical gardens of Southern Europe were associated with university faculties of medicine and were founded in Italy at Orto botanico di Pisa (1544), Orto botanico di Padova (1545), Orto Botanico di Firenze (1545), Orto Botanico dell'Università di Pavia (1558) and Orto Botanico dell'Università di Bologna (1568). Here

1280-602: A food crop in other areas in the future, thriving in climates with cool oceanic summers, e.g., western Scotland , where other nut crops do not grow well. A group of six female trees with one male for pollination could yield several thousand seeds per year. Since the cones drop, harvesting is easy. The tree, however, does not yield seeds until it is around 30 to 40 years old, which discourages investment in planting orchards (although yields at maturity can be immense); once established, individuals can achieve ages beyond 1,000 years. Pest losses to rodents and feral Sus scrofa limits

1408-623: A group of Araucanians living in the Andes, the Pehuenches , owe their name to their diet based on the harvesting of the A. araucaria seeds; hence from pewen or its Hispanicized spelling pehuen which means Araucaria and che means people in Mapudungun . They believe the pewen was given by a deity or gwenachen to nourish their offspring; many pewen gathering festivals ( ngillatun ) are celebrated in both Chile and Argentina in gratitude to

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1536-401: A guest house for visitors to the abbey of low social rank , or possibly a barn. It was originally part of a group of buildings in the abbey grounds that included a brew-house, stables, mill and, near the main gate, a boarding school with 50 pupils. The oldest parts of the ground floor were built around 1300, but the upper storey has been extensively restored in modern times. The ruined gateway at

1664-461: A height of 30–40 m (98–131 ft). It is native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina . It is the hardiest species in the conifer genus Araucaria . Because of the prevalence of similar species in ancient prehistory, it is sometimes called an animate fossil . It is also the national tree of Chile. Its conservation status was changed to Endangered by the IUCN in 2013 due to

1792-464: A large boulder of pink granite that was discovered during construction of the city's railway station. Since this type of stone is not local it was determined as having been transported there from Shap in Cumbria by glacial action during the last ice age . In 2015, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of the geological map of Britain by William Smith , a mosaic map was commissioned for

1920-421: A larger role in preventing reproduction through seed destruction. However this may be due to the relatively recent introduction of the selected species, causing their population to be smaller than other invasive species. A study conducted found that cattle ranching by small landowners and larger timber companies within the range of A. araucana severely affects regeneration of seedlings. Araucaria araucana

2048-633: A monkey to climb that". As the species had no existing popular name, first "monkey puzzler", then "monkey puzzle" stuck. Pencarrow in the current century has an avenue of mature Monkey Puzzles. The nearest extant relative is Araucaria angustifolia , a South American Araucaria from Brazil which differs in the width of the leaves. Members of other sections of the genus Araucaria occur in Pacific Islands and in Australia, and include Araucaria cunninghamii , hoop pine , Araucaria heterophylla ,

2176-453: A new description of the species which he called Araucaria imbricata (an illegitimate name, as it did not use Molina's older species epithet). Finally, in 1873, after several further redescriptions, Koch published the combination Araucaria araucana , validating Molina's species name. The name araucana is derived from the native Araucanians who used the nuts (seeds) of the tree in Chile

2304-538: A period of prosperity when the city was a trading centre for the Dutch East India Company . Other gardens were constructed in Brazil ( Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden , 1808), Sri Lanka ( Botanic Gardens of Peradeniya , 1821 and on a site dating back to 1371), Indonesia ( Bogor Botanical Gardens , 1817 and Kebun Raya Cibodas , 1852), and Singapore ( Singapore Botanical Gardens , 1822). These had

2432-608: A profound effect on the economy of the countries, especially in relation to the foods and medicines introduced. The importation of rubber trees to the Singapore Botanic Garden initiated the important rubber industry of the Malay Peninsula . At this time also, teak and tea were introduced to India and breadfruit , pepper and starfruit to the Caribbean. Included in the charter of these gardens

2560-457: A wide influence on both botany and horticulture, as plants poured into it from around the world. The garden's golden age came in the 18th century, when it became the world's most richly stocked botanical garden. Its seed-exchange programme was established in 1682 and still continues today. With the increase in maritime trade , ever more plants were being brought back to Europe as trophies from distant lands, and these were triumphantly displayed in

2688-470: A year. Historically, botanical gardens exchanged plants through the publication of seed lists (these were called Latin : Indices Seminae in the 18th century). This was a means of transferring both plants and information between botanical gardens. This system continues today, although the possibility of genetic piracy and the transmission of invasive species has received greater attention in recent times. The International Association of Botanic Gardens

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2816-438: A year. Drinking alcohol, cycling and ball games are not allowed in the gardens. There are approximately 4,500 plants and trees in the collection, some of the varieties native to England and some from other parts of the world. Planting consists of large beds containing predominantly shrubs and trees, and lawns interspersed with individual trees. Species of tree include a monkey puzzle tree along with oak and chestnut trees; six of

2944-615: Is a garden with a documented collection of living plants for the purpose of scientific research, conservation, display, and education. It is their mandate as a botanical garden that plants are labelled with their botanical names . It may contain specialist plant collections such as cacti and other succulent plants , herb gardens , plants from particular parts of the world, and so on; there may be glasshouses or shadehouses , again with special collections such as tropical plants , alpine plants , or other exotic plants that are not native to that region. Most are at least partly open to

3072-548: Is a masting species, and rodents are important consumers and dispersers of its seeds. The long-haired grass mouse, Abrothrix longipilis , is the most important animal responsible for dispersing the seeds of A.   araucana . This rodent buries seeds whole in locations favorable for seed germination, unlike other animals. Another important seed dispersal agent is the parakeet species Enicognathus ferrugineus . Adult trees are highly resistant to large ecological disturbances caused by volcanic activity, after events like these

3200-473: Is a popular garden tree, planted for the unusual effect of its thick, "reptilian" branches with very symmetrical appearance. It prefers temperate climates with abundant rainfall, tolerating temperatures down to about −20 °C (−4 °F). It is far and away the hardiest member of its genus, and can grow well in western and central Europe (north to the Faroe Islands and Smøla in western Norway ),

3328-713: Is also sacred to some indigenous Mapuche . Timber from these trees, was used for railway sleepers in order to access many industrial areas around the port of Chile. Before the tree became protected by law in 1971, lumber mills in Araucanía Region specialized in Chilean pine. The species is protected under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meaning international trade (including in parts and derivatives)

3456-488: Is closely linked to the history of botany itself. The botanical gardens of the 16th and 17th centuries were medicinal gardens, but the idea of a botanical garden changed to encompass displays of the beautiful, strange, new and sometimes economically important plant trophies being returned from the European colonies and other distant lands. Later, in the 18th century, they became more educational in function, demonstrating

3584-523: Is inside the Parque La Carolina is a 165.5-acre (670,000 m ) park in the centre of the Quito central business district , bordered by the avenues Río Amazonas, de los Shyris, Naciones Unidas, Eloy Alfaro, and de la República. The botanical garden of Quito is a park, a botanical garden, an arboretum and greenhouses of 18,600 square meters that is planned to increase, maintain the plants of

3712-640: Is regulated by the CITES permitting system and commercial trade in wild sourced specimens is prohibited. Many young specimens and seeds were brought or sent back to the UK by Cornish miners in the nineteenth century, during the Cornish diaspora , and as a result Cornwall is reckoned to have a high genetic diversity of the species. Christopher Nigel Page , a botanist working at Camborne School of Mines , University of Exeter planted specimens in disused china clay pits in

3840-669: Is respected worldwide for the published work of its scientists, the education of horticultural students, its public programmes, and the scientific underpinning of its horticulture. In 1728, John Bartram founded Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia , one of the continent's first botanical gardens. The garden is now managed as a historical site that includes a few original and many modern specimens as well as extensive archives and restored historical farm buildings. The large number of plants needing description were often listed in garden catalogues; and at this time Carl Linnaeus established

3968-1101: Is the acquisition and dissemination of botanical knowledge. A contemporary botanic garden is a strictly protected green area, where a managing organization creates landscaped gardens and holds documented collections of living plants and/or preserved plant accessions containing functional units of heredity of actual or potential value for purposes such as scientific research, education, public display, conservation, sustainable use, tourism and recreational activities, production of marketable plant-based products and services for improvement of human well-being. Worldwide, there are now about 1800 botanical gardens and arboreta in about 150 countries (mostly in temperate regions) of which about 550 are in Europe (150 of which are in Russia ), 200 in North America , and an increasing number in East Asia. These gardens attract about 300 million visitors

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4096-505: Is the lower slopes of the Chilean and Argentine south-central Andes , approximately between 1,000 m (3,300 ft) and 1,700 m (5,600 ft). In the Chilean Coast Range A. araucana can be found as far south as Villa Las Araucarias (latitude 38°30' S) at an altitude of 640 m asl. Juvenile trees exhibit a broadly pyramidal or conical habit which naturally develops into the distinctive umbrella form of mature specimens as

4224-546: Is to maintain documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific research, conservation, display, and education, although this will depend on the resources available and the special interests pursued at each particular garden. The staff will normally include botanists as well as gardeners. Many botanical gardens offer diploma/certificate programs in horticulture, botany and taxonomy. There are many internship opportunities offered to aspiring horticulturists. As well as opportunities for students/researchers to use

4352-454: Is wind pollinated. The female (seed) cones, which mature in autumn about 18 months after pollination, are globose, large, 12–20 cm ( 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 –8 in) in diameter, and hold about 200 seeds. The cones disintegrate at maturity to release the 3–4 cm ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 – 1 + 1 ⁄ 2  in) long nut -like seeds. The thick bark of Araucaria araucana may be an adaptation to wildfire . The tree's native habitat

4480-670: The Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna and Hortus Botanicus Leiden . Many plants were being collected from the Near East , especially bulbous plants from Turkey . Clusius laid the foundations of Dutch tulip breeding and the bulb industry, and he helped create one of the earliest formal botanical gardens of Europe at Leyden where his detailed planting lists have made it possible to recreate this garden near its original site. The hortus medicus of Leyden in 1601

4608-617: The Chinese New Year with displays that included lion dancers . In 2007 The Lord Chamberlain's Men presented a production of Romeo & Juliet . Also in 2007, during the Jorvik Viking festival, there were demonstrations of Viking craft skills and battle training. The Yorkshire Museum and the Museum Gardens first hosted the Eboracum Roman Festival in 2016. It has since become an annual event. In 2019

4736-885: The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation by producing a range resources and publications, and by organizing international conferences and conservation programs. Communication also happens regionally. In the United States, there is the American Public Gardens Association (formerly the American Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta), and in Australasia there is the Botanic Gardens of Australia and New Zealand (BGANZ). The history of botanical gardens

4864-842: The Government Hill in Victoria City , Hong Kong Island . The Koishikawa Botanical Garden in Tokyo, with its origin going back to the Tokugawa shogunate 's ownership, became in 1877 part of the Tokyo Imperial University . In Sri Lanka major botanical gardens include the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya (formally established in 1843), Hakgala Botanical Gardens (1861) and Henarathgoda Botanical Garden (1876). Jardín Botánico de Quito

4992-670: The Roman fort of Eboracum , including the Multangular Tower and parts of the Roman walls. In the same area there is also the Anglian Tower , which was probably built into the remains of a late Roman period fortress. During the Middle Ages , the tower was expanded and the Roman walls were incorporated into York's city walls . Most of the other buildings dating from the Middle Ages are associated with St Mary's Abbey, including

5120-1001: The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens , 1818; the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne , 1845; Adelaide Botanic Gardens , 1854; and Brisbane Botanic Gardens , 1855. These were established essentially as colonial gardens of economic botany and acclimatisation. The Auburn Botanical Gardens , 1977, located in Sydney's western suburbs , are one of the popular and diverse botanical gardens in the Greater Western Sydney area. Major botanical gardens in New Zealand include Dunedin Botanic Gardens , 1863; Christchurch Botanic Gardens , 1863; Ōtari-Wilton's Bush , 1926; and Wellington Botanic Gardens , 1868. Hong Kong Botanic Gardens , 1871 (renamed Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens in 1975), up from

5248-548: The St Austell area as part of his research into regreening former extractive minerals sites, which he presented in 2017 in the UK Parliament , with Professor Hylke Glass, also of CSM, as co-author. First identified by Europeans in Chile in the 1780s, it was named Pinus araucana by Molina in 1782. In 1789, de Jussieu erected a new genus called Araucaria based on the species, and in 1797, Pavón published

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5376-482: The York Museums Trust . They were designed in a gardenesque style by landscape architect Sir John Murray Naysmith , and contain a variety of species of plants, trees and birds. Admission is free. A variety of events take place in the gardens, such as open-air theatre performances and festival activities. There are several historic buildings in the gardens. They contain the remains of the west corner of

5504-487: The Yorkshire Philosophical Society by the British Royal Family in 1828, occupy part of the former grounds of St. Mary's Abbey . The society acquired the land to build a museum to house its collections; the Yorkshire Museum was completed in 1830. The land was granted to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society under the condition that botanical gardens would be established on the site. These were created during

5632-399: The medieval period , most of them relating to St Mary's Abbey. The Benedictine Abbey's origins date back to 1086 when Alan Count of Brittany granted St Olave's Church and the adjoining land to the monk Stephen of Whitby, who became the first abbot of St. Mary's. When St Olave's Church became too small, a larger church in a Romanesque style was built nearby, the foundation stone of which

5760-462: The symbol of Yorkshire . There is an 'Edible Wood' located behind York Art Gallery, in the north-west corner of the gardens. The wood was planted in July 2015 and features plants that have an edible component and are both attractive and useful. In the early 19th century, the gardens included a menagerie. Henry Baines' daughter, Fanny, recalled 70 years later that in this period the menageries contained

5888-506: The "Father of Botany". There is some debate among science historians whether this garden was ordered and scientific enough to be considered "botanical", and suggest it more appropriate to attribute the earliest known botanical garden in Europe to the botanist and pharmacologist Antonius Castor , mentioned by Pliny the Elder in the 1st century. Though these ancient gardens shared some of

6016-420: The 14th century, the hospital could have contained as many as 240 patients, 18 clergy and 30 choristers. St. Leonard's Hospital was closed during the dissolution of the monasteries, when it was surrendered to Henry VIII by Thomas Magnus. The undercroft and chapel were part of the infirmary built between 1225 and 1250. The interior of the undercroft, accessible from the gardens, has a rib vaulted ceiling and houses

6144-408: The 16th and 17th centuries, the first plants were being imported to these major Western European gardens from Eastern Europe and nearby Asia (which provided many bulbs ), and these found a place in the new gardens, where they could be conveniently studied by the plant experts of the day. For example, Asian introductions were described by Carolus Clusius (1526–1609), who was director, in turn, of

6272-399: The 1830s in a gardenesque style design by landscape architect Sir John Murray Naysmith. They originally contained a conservatory , a pond and a menagerie , which was destroyed when a bear escaped from it and had brief control of the area. The then Princess Victoria visited the gardens in 1835, the year that they were first open to the public. In 1854 the gardens were described as "one of

6400-565: The 20th-century revival of the York Mystery Plays , performances were held on a fixed stage in the gardens among the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey. In the 1950s, York actress Dame Judi Dench acted in the plays performed in the gardens, and played the Virgin Mary in 1957. The Mystery Plays returned to the gardens between 2–27 August 2012 and involved over one thousand local volunteers. In 2006, between 800 and 1,000 people celebrated

6528-480: The Askham Bryan College of Agriculture. York Museum Gardens cover an area of 10 acres (4.0 ha) on the north bank of the River Ouse , just outside the city walls in the centre of York . There are four entrances to the gardens: on Marygate (off Bootham ) by St Olave's Church , on Museum Street by Lendal Bridge , via a path at the side of King's Manor , and from the riverside walk next to

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6656-685: The British and Dutch, in India , South-east Asia and the Caribbean . This was also the time of Sir Joseph Banks 's botanical collections during Captain James Cook 's circumnavigations of the planet and his explorations of Oceania , which formed the last phase of plant introduction on a grand scale. There are currently about 230 tropical botanical gardens with a concentration in southern and south-eastern Asia. The first botanical garden founded in

6784-618: The Chelsea Physic Garden to the Province of Georgia in 1732 and tea into India by Calcutta Botanic Garden. The transfer of germplasm between the temperate and tropical botanical gardens was undoubtedly responsible for the range of agricultural crops currently used in several regions of the tropics. The first botanical gardens in Australia were founded early in the 19th century. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney , 1816;

6912-521: The Christian conquest in 1085 CE. Ibn Bassal then founded a garden in Seville, most of its plants being collected on a botanical expedition that included Morocco, Persia, Sicily, and Egypt. The medical school of Montpelier was also founded by Spanish Arab physicians, and by 1250 CE, it included a physic garden, but the site was not given botanic garden status until 1593. Botanical gardens, in

7040-455: The Gardens from artist Janette Ireland which shows the geological strata of Yorkshire in pebbles of the corresponding stone. As well as being a popular recreational space for both residents and visitors, the gardens are the venue for special events such as open-air theatre and music performances. In 1970, bands including Roxy Music , Hawkwind and Pink Fairies staged concerts here. During

7168-1023: The Netherlands ( Hortus Botanicus Leiden , 1590; Hortus Botanicus (Amsterdam) , 1638), Germany ( Alter Botanischer Garten Tübingen , 1535; Leipzig Botanical Garden , 1580; Botanischer Garten Jena , 1586; Botanischer Garten Heidelberg , 1593; Herrenhäuser Gärten, Hanover , 1666; Botanischer Garten der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel , 1669; Botanical Garden in Berlin , 1672), Switzerland ( Old Botanical Garden, Zürich , 1560; Basel , 1589); England ( University of Oxford Botanic Garden , 1621; Chelsea Physic Garden , 1673); Scotland ( Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh , 1670); and in France ( Jardin des plantes de Montpellier , 1593; Faculty of Medicine Garden, Paris, 1597; Jardin des Plantes , Paris, 1635), Denmark ( University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden , 1600); Sweden ( Uppsala University , 1655). During

7296-411: The River Ouse. The site slopes gently down towards the river and is made up of historical buildings and undulating lawns interspersed with plants and trees. The gardens are open to the public during daylight hours, so the opening and closing times vary throughout the year. Normally admission is free but there are charges for some events. In 2010 it was estimated that the gardens attract 1.3 million visitors

7424-743: The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1759) and Orotava Acclimatization Garden (in Spanish) , Tenerife (1788) and the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid (1755) were set up to cultivate new species returned from expeditions to the tropics; they also helped found new tropical botanical gardens. From the 1770s, following the example of the French and Spanish , amateur collectors were supplemented by official horticultural and botanical plant hunters. These botanical gardens were boosted by

7552-534: The Royal Garden set aside as a physic garden. William Aiton (1741–1793), the first curator, was taught by garden chronicler Philip Miller of the Chelsea Physic Garden whose son Charles became first curator of the original Cambridge Botanic Garden (1762). In 1759, the "Physick Garden" was planted, and by 1767, it was claimed that "the Exotick Garden is by far the richest in Europe". Gardens such as

7680-461: The Spanish invaders, not only with their appearance, but also because the indigenous Aztecs employed many more medicinal plants than did the classical world of Europe. Early medieval gardens in Islamic Spain resembled botanic gardens of the future, an example being the 11th-century Huerta del Rey garden of physician and author Ibn Wafid (999–1075 CE) in Toledo . This was later taken over by garden chronicler Ibn Bassal (fl. 1085 CE) until

7808-431: The Vatican grounds in 1447, for a garden of medicinal plants that were used to promote the teaching of botany, and this was a forerunner to the University gardens at Padua and Pisa established in the 1540s. Certainly the founding of many early botanic gardens was instigated by members of the medical profession. In the 17th century, botanical gardens began their contribution to a deeper scientific curiosity about plants. If

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7936-441: The Yorkshire Museum. Dr Tempest Anderson , a York surgeon and vulcanologist, presented the hall to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society to replace its existing lecture theatre. Designed by E. Ridsdale Tate , it is an early example of the use of reinforced concrete and is a Grade I listed building . In the late 20th century it housed a cinema, but it is now used as a conference venue and lecture theatre. York's first swimming bath

8064-426: The abbey. After the abbey's dissolution , the lodge became a courthouse until 1722, when part of the building became the Brown Cow pub . In 1840 John Philips , the Yorkshire Museum's curator, restored and converted it to use as his home while retaining its external appearance. The lodge subsequently became used as offices, and during the early 21st century became the headquarters of the York Museums Trust. Along with

8192-422: The archway attached to the side of the lodge. The lodge is built of stone, and does not contain timber framing like the nearby Hospitium. The lodge, along with the attached railings, gates and gate piers are all Grade I listed buildings , which means that they are of outstanding interest. Originally, the lodge may have been used as a guesthouse for the abbey, and was the point where the poor could claim alms from

8320-421: The characteristics of present-day botanical gardens, the forerunners of modern botanical gardens are generally regarded as being the medieval monastic physic gardens that originated after the decline of the Roman Empire at the time of Emperor Charlemagne (742–789 CE). These contained a hortus , a garden used mostly for vegetables, and another section set aside for specially labelled medicinal plants and this

8448-442: The classification systems being developed by botanists in the gardens' museums and herbaria. Botanical gardens had now become scientific collections, as botanists published their descriptions of the new exotic plants, and these were also recorded for posterity in detail by superb botanical illustrations. In this century, botanical gardens effectively dropped their medicinal function in favour of scientific and aesthetic priorities, and

8576-405: The collection for their studies. The origin of modern botanical gardens is generally traced to the appointment of botany professors to the medical faculties of universities in 16th-century Renaissance Italy, which also entailed curating a medicinal garden . However, the objectives, content, and audience of today's botanic gardens more closely resembles that of the grandiose gardens of antiquity and

8704-460: The collection made up of insects. There are two stuffed specimens of the extinct great auk , an almost complete skeleton of an extinct moa and a large collection of specimens from the Yorkshire region including the remains of elephants, cave bears and hyena from Kirkdale Cave dated to the Quaternary period , around 125,000 years ago. The geological collection contains over 112,500 specimens of rocks, minerals and fossils. Fossils make up most of

8832-404: The collection numbering over 100,000 samples, and include important specimens from the Carboniferous , Mesozoic and Tertiary periods. The archaeology collection has close to a million objects that date from around 500,000 BC to the 20th century, including the Coppergate Helmet discovered in York in 1982, and the Ormside Bowl , an intricate example of an Anglian silversmith . Most of

8960-438: The country (Ecuador is among the 17 richest countries in the world in the native species, a study on this matter). The Ecuadorian flora classified, determines the existence of 17,000 species) Araucaria araucana Araucaria araucana , commonly called the monkey puzzle tree , monkey tail tree , piñonero , pewen or Chilean pine , is an evergreen tree growing to a trunk diameter of 1–1.5 m (3.3–4.9 ft) and

9088-426: The dwindling population caused by logging, forest fires, and grazing. The leaves are thick, tough, and scale-like, triangular, 3–4 cm ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 – 1 + 1 ⁄ 2  in) long, 1–3 cm ( 1 ⁄ 2 – 1 + 1 ⁄ 4  in) broad at the base, and with sharp edges and tips. According to the scientist Christopher Lusk, the leaves have an average lifespan of 24 years and so cover most of

9216-481: The educational garden of Theophrastus in the Lyceum of ancient Athens. The early concern with medicinal plants changed in the 17th century to an interest in the new plant imports from explorations outside Europe as botany gradually established its independence from medicine. In the 18th century, systems of nomenclature and classification were devised by botanists working in the herbaria and universities associated with

9344-544: The end of the 18th century, Kew, under the directorship of Sir Joseph Banks , enjoyed a golden age of plant hunting, sending out collectors to the South African Cape , Australia , Chile , China , Ceylon , Brazil , and elsewhere, and acting as "the great botanical exchange house of the British Empire ". From its earliest days to the present, Kew has in many ways exemplified botanic garden ideals, and

9472-426: The few Roman remains that are visible above ground in York. The Multangular Tower is the western corner tower of the Roman fortress, and consists of both Roman and medieval architecture. The tower has 10 sides, from which it derives its modern name " multangular ", and is 19 feet (5.8 m) high. It was built in its late Roman form during the early 4th century, when it was constructed with three floors to house

9600-519: The flora being sent back to Europe from various European colonies around the globe . At this time, British horticulturalists were importing many woody plants from Britain's colonies in North America , and the popularity of horticulture had increased enormously, encouraged by the horticultural and botanical collecting expeditions overseas fostered by the directorship of Sir William Jackson Hooker and his keen interest in economic botany . At

9728-594: The gardens before the salute is fired. On 9 September 2022 a 96-gun salute was held in commemoration of the death of Queen Elizabeth II , one for each year of her life. This was followed, on 10 September by a 21-gun salute to mark the Proclamation of accession of Charles III . There is a designated 'Artist's Garden' behind the Art Gallery, within the Museum Gardens. Sculptural works are displayed in this open air space. Exhibitions in this space have included: In

9856-605: The gardens hosted the York Proms, an open-air classical music concert. In July 2024 the gardens hosted a series of gigs headlined by Shed Seven . The gardens are the location of York's Saluting Station, one of only 12 in the United Kingdom, with 21-gun salutes being fired at noon to celebrate occasions related to the British Royal Family throughout the year. At these times a military band marches to

9984-409: The gardens was one of the release sites for a new population of the endangered Tansy beetle and, as of 2015, is one of the best places to see them in the wild. In 2018 a leaf-mining fly , Phytomyza scotina , was discovered mining the leaves of sage plants in the gardens – it was subsequently described as a new species for Britain. There is a geological oddity close to the main gates, consisting of

10112-604: The gardens, but the major ruins of the church are on the western side. The church was aligned on a northeast axis because of the shape and size of the site, instead of pointing to the east, the normal alignment for churches in England. Part of the north and west walls that formed the nave and crossing , designed in Gothic style by architect Simon of Pabenham in the 13th century, remain standing. The ruins include dummy lancet windows , tracery windows and "tracery remains to show that

10240-434: The gardens, these systems often being displayed in the gardens as educational "order beds ". With the rapid expansion of European colonies around the globe in the late 18th century, botanic gardens were established in the tropics, and economic botany became a focus with the hub at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew , near London. Over the years, botanical gardens, as cultural and scientific organisations, have responded to

10368-459: The grass. Finds excavated from the site, including life-sized statues of Christian saints , can be seen in the Yorkshire Museum. St Mary's Lodge was built around 1470 as an addition to the late 12th-century buildings that formed the gatehouse at the main entrance to the abbey, – now the Marygate entrance to the gardens. Some remains of the 12th-century gatehouse can still be seen, in particular

10496-578: The inaugural meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science was held at the Yorkshire Museum. Three of the museum's permanent collections are housed in the Yorkshire Museum building all of which have English designated collection status, which means they are "pre-eminent collections of national and international importance". The biology collection contains 200,000 specimens, including both fauna and flora, with most of

10624-488: The interests of botany and horticulture . Nowadays, most botanical gardens display a mix of the themes mentioned and more; having a strong connection with the general public, there is the opportunity to provide visitors with information relating to the environmental issues being faced at the start of the 21st century, especially those relating to plant conservation and sustainability . The "New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening" (1999) points out that among

10752-519: The late sub-curator, Henry Baines . " The Yorkshire Philosophical Society constructed several buildings in the gardens during the 19th and early 20th centuries, including the Yorkshire Museum , one of the first purpose-built museums in Britain. The Yorkshire Museum was designed by architect William Wilkins in a Greek Revival style and was officially opened in February 1830. On 26 September 1831

10880-599: The latest plant classification systems devised by botanists working in the associated herbaria as they tried to order these new treasures. Then, in the 19th and 20th centuries, the trend was towards a combination of specialist and eclectic collections demonstrating many aspects of both horticulture and botany. The idea of "scientific" gardens used specifically for the study of plants dates back to antiquity. Near-eastern royal gardens set aside for economic use or display and containing at least some plants gained by special collecting trips or military campaigns abroad, are known from

11008-454: The lodge, some of the abbey's precinct walls are still standing. A section of the remaining walls runs along the north-west part of the gardens and extends further along Marygate to Bootham . The walls were constructed in 1266 and increased in height and crenellated in 1318 under a royal licence from Edward III . Originally there was a defensive ditch along the outside of the walls. The walls include several towers, not all of them dating from

11136-480: The medieval period; the semicircular tower near the gatehouse is a 19th-century reconstruction. The walls and towers were used for the abbey's defence, e.g. in disputes with the City of York over land ownership and taxes, and played a role in the defence of the city during the siege of York . The Hospitium is located between the ruins of St Mary's Abbey Church and the River Ouse , and is thought to have originally been

11264-508: The modern sense, developed from physic gardens , whose main purpose was to cultivate herbs for medical use as well as research and experimentation. Such gardens have a long history. In Europe, for example, Aristotle (384 BCE – 322 BCE) is said to have had a physic garden in the Lyceum at Athens, which was used for educational purposes and for the study of botany, and this was inherited, or possibly set up, by his pupil Theophrastus ,

11392-526: The museum's astronomy collection is housed in the octagonal observatory in the centre of the gardens, built during 1832 and 1833. The design of its rotating roof is credited to John Smeaton designer of the Eddystone Lighthouse . A 4.5-inch (11 cm) telescope built in 1850 by the instrument maker Thomas Cooke of York was installed during the observatory's 1981 restoration. It is Yorkshire's oldest working observatory and as of August 2007

11520-559: The northeast of Museum Gardens there are remains of the west corner of the fortifications that surrounded the Roman fort of Eboracum . The original defences, consisting of turf ramparts on a green wood foundation, were built by the Ninth Legion between 71 and 74 AD. Later those were replaced by a clay mound with a turf front on a new oak foundation, and eventually wooden battlements were added, which were then replaced by limestone walls and towers. These stone defences are some of

11648-512: The parakeets play their role by dispersing the seeds far from affected territory. Logging, long a major threat, was finally banned in 1990. Large fires burned thousands of acres of Araucaria forest in 2001–2002, and areas of national parks have also burned, destroying trees over 1300 years old. Overgrazing and invasive trees are also threats. Extensive human harvesting of piñones (Araucaria seeds) can prevent new trees from growing. A Global Trees Campaign project that planted 2000 trees found

11776-437: The patterns alternated between a single large circle over two lights and three small circles over three lights". The column capitals are decorated with foliage in a stiff-leaf style as well as in a naturalistic style, although this stonework is weatherworn and so this decoration is hard to distinguish. Sections of the foundations of the church and its Norman predecessor are exposed, and a plan of their layouts can be seen in

11904-542: The period 1965–1969 listed the vertebrates resident in the gardens at that time: Common wood pigeon , Tawny owl , Blue tit , Eurasian Wren , Dunnock , European Robin , European greenfinch , Mistle thrush , Song thrush , Blackbird , and House sparrow , Common shrew , Wood mouse , and Brown rat . Until 2006 a family of peacocks had been in residence for at least 70 years, though numbers had fluctuated since at least 2001 as birds occasionally escaped or were involved in traffic accidents on nearby Museum Street. In 2012

12032-724: The physicians (referred to in English as apothecaries ) delivered lectures on the Mediterranean "simples" or " officinals " that were being cultivated in the grounds. Student education was no doubt stimulated by the relatively recent advent of printing and the publication of the first herbals. All of these botanical gardens still exist, mostly in their original locations. The tradition of these Italian gardens passed into Spain Botanical Garden of Valencia , 1567) and Northern Europe , where similar gardens were established in

12160-513: The principal attractions of York". At this time entrance was free to members and for non-members entrance cost one shilling except on Saturday when it cost six pence. In 1960, the gardens and the Yorkshire Museum were given in trust to the City of York Council and they became a public park . Since 2002, they have been managed by the York Museums Trust, along with York Castle Museum and York Art Gallery . The gardens are maintained by

12288-447: The private estates of the wealthy, in commercial nurseries , and in the public botanical gardens. Heated conservatories called " orangeries ", such as the one at Kew, became a feature of many botanical gardens. Industrial expansion in Europe and North America resulted in new building skills, so plants sensitive to cold were kept over winter in progressively elaborate and expensive heated conservatories and glasshouses. The 18th century

12416-509: The public for the purposes of recreation, education and research." The term tends to be used somewhat differently in different parts of the world. For example a large woodland garden with a good collection of rhododendron and other flowering tree and shrub species is very likely to present itself as a "botanical garden" if it is located in the US, but very unlikely to do so if in the UK (unless it also contains other relevant features). Very few of

12544-454: The public, and may offer guided tours, public programming such as workshops, courses, educational displays, art exhibitions , book rooms, open-air theatrical and musical performances, and other entertainment. Botanical gardens are often run by universities or other scientific research organizations, and often have associated herbaria and research programmes in plant taxonomy or some other aspect of botanical science. In principle, their role

12672-824: The purposes of scientific research, conservation, display and education." The following definition was produced by staff of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium of Cornell University in 1976. It covers in some detail the many functions and activities generally associated with botanical gardens: A botanical garden is a controlled and staffed institution for the maintenance of a living collection of plants under scientific management for purposes of education and research, together with such libraries, herbaria, laboratories, and museums as are essential to its particular undertakings. Each botanical garden naturally develops its own special fields of interests depending on its personnel, location, extent, available funds, and

12800-565: The remains of the original Roman wall running parallel to it on the city side. Built into this part of the wall is the stone Anglian Tower , which was once thought to have been built during the reign of Edwin of Northumbria , but now is generally thought to be of the very late Roman period. Behind the Anglian Tower are a series of banks showing the level of the defences during the Roman, early Middle Ages, Norman, and late medieval periods. The gardens contain several buildings dating back to

12928-544: The rubber plant was introduced to Singapore. Especially in the tropics, the larger gardens were frequently associated with a herbarium and museum of economy. The Botanical Garden of Peradeniya had considerable influence on the development of agriculture in Ceylon where the Para rubber tree ( Hevea brasiliensis ) was introduced from Kew, which had itself imported the plant from South America . Other examples include cotton from

13056-578: The ruins of the abbey church, the Hospitium, the lodge and part of the surviving precinct wall. The remains of St. Leonard 's Hospital chapel and undercroft are on the east side of the gardens. The Yorkshire Philosophical Society constructed several buildings in the gardens during the 19th and early 20th century, including the Yorkshire Museum and its octagonal observatory . The museum houses four permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology and astronomy. The gardens, which were given to

13184-743: The second millennium BCE in ancient Egypt , Mesopotamia , Crete , Mexico and China . In about 2800 BCE, the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung sent collectors to distant regions searching for plants with economic or medicinal value. It has also been suggested that the Spanish colonization of Mesoamerica influenced the history of the botanical garden as gardens in Tenochtitlan established by king Nezahualcoyotl , also gardens in Chalco (altépetl) and elsewhere, greatly impressed

13312-467: The side dates back to the 15th century, and was probably the entrance to a passage that ran towards the water-gate by the river. The remains of St. Leonard 's Hospital chapel and undercroft are on the east side of the gardens, by the Museum Street entrance. The hospital was the largest in England during the Middle Ages , and was run by a community of men and women of the Augustinian order. During

13440-428: The sites used for the UK's dispersed National Plant Collection , usually holding large collections of a particular taxonomic group, would call themselves "botanic gardens". This has been further reduced by Botanic Gardens Conservation International to the following definition which "encompasses the spirit of a true botanic garden": "A botanic garden is an institution holding documented collections of living plants for

13568-404: The system of binomial nomenclature which greatly facilitated the listing process. Names of plants were authenticated by dried plant specimens mounted on card (a hortus siccus or garden of dried plants) that were stored in buildings called herbaria , these taxonomic research institutions being frequently associated with the botanical gardens, many of which by then had "order beds" to display

13696-417: The term "botanic garden" came to be more closely associated with the herbarium, library (and later laboratories) housed there than with the living collections – on which little research was undertaken. The late 18th and early 19th centuries were marked by the establishment of tropical botanical gardens as a tool of colonial expansion (for trade and commerce and, secondarily, science) mainly by

13824-401: The terms of its charter. It may include greenhouses, test grounds, an herbarium, an arboretum, and other departments. It maintains a scientific as well as a plant-growing staff, and publication is one of its major modes of expression. This broad outline is then expanded: The botanic garden may be an independent institution, a governmental operation, or affiliated to a college or university. If

13952-432: The tree ages. It prefers well-drained, slightly acidic, volcanic soil , but will tolerate almost any soil type provided it drains well. Seedlings are often not competitive enough to survive unless grown in a canopy gap or exposed isolated area. It is almost never found together with Chusquea culeou , Nothofagus dombeyi , and Nothofagus pumilio , because they typically outcompete A. araucana . Araucaria araucana

14080-434: The tree except for the older branches. It is usually dioecious , with the male and female cones on separate trees, though occasional individuals bear cones of both sexes. The male (pollen) cones are oblong and cucumber-shaped, 4 cm ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 2  in) long at first, expanding to 8–12 cm (3– 4 + 1 ⁄ 2  in) long by 5–6 cm (2– 2 + 1 ⁄ 2  in) broad at pollen release. It

14208-574: The tree's sustenance. The origin of the popular English language name "monkey puzzle" lies in its early cultivation in Britain in about 1850, when the species was still very rare in gardens and not widely known. Sir William Molesworth , the owner of a young specimen at Pencarrow garden near Bodmin in Cornwall , was showing it to a group of friends, when one of them – the noted barrister and Benthamist Charles Austin – remarked, "It would puzzle

14336-442: The trees in the gardens are classed as county champion trees: Fraxinus angustifolia 'Lentiscifolia', Pyrus elaeagrifolia , Carpinus betulus 'Incisa', Alnus glutinosa 'Imperialis', Tilia cordata , Fagus sylvatica 'Miltonensis'. There is a rockery next to the Marygate entrance, by the ruins of the abbey church, and in front of the entrance to the Yorkshire Museum there is a terrace bordered with beds of white roses,

14464-847: The tropics was the Pamplemousses Botanical Garden in Mauritius , established in 1735 to provide food for ships using the port, but later trialling and distributing many plants of economic importance. This was followed by the West Indies ( Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Botanic Gardens , 1764) and in 1786 by the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Botanical Garden in Calcutta , India founded during

14592-519: The various kinds of organizations known as botanical gardens, there are many that are in modern times public gardens with little scientific activity, and it cited a tighter definition published by the World Wildlife Fund and IUCN when launching the "Botanic Gardens Conservation Strategy" in 1989: "A botanic garden is a garden containing scientifically ordered and maintained collections of plants, usually documented and labelled, and open to

14720-409: The wall and towers are constructed of regular rectangular limestone blocks with a band of red tile running through them. The later medieval additions can be identified by the use of much larger blocks of limestone that cut through the red tiles in places and by the cross shaped arrow slits on the Multangular Tower. To the north of the Multangular Tower there is a stretch of the medieval city wall with

14848-607: The west coast of North America (north to Baranof Island in Alaska), and locally on the east coast, as far north as Long Island , and in New Zealand , southeastern Australia and south east Ireland. It is tolerant of coastal salt spray , but does not tolerate exposure to pollution . Its seeds ( Mapudungun : ngulliw , Spanish : piñones ) are edible, similar to large pine nuts , and are harvested by indigenous peoples in Argentina and Chile. The tree has some potential to be

14976-408: The yields for human consumption and forage fattening of livestock by A. araucana mast . A. araucana has a high degree of inter-year variability in mast volume, and this variation is synchronous within a given area. This evolved to take advantage of predator satiety . Once valued because of its long, straight trunk, its current rarity and vulnerable status mean its wood is now rarely used; it

15104-439: Was a perfect square divided into quarters for the four continents, but by 1720, though, it was a rambling system of beds, struggling to contain the novelties rushing in, and it became better known as the hortus academicus . His Exoticorum libri decem (1605) is an important survey of exotic plants and animals that is still consulted today. The inclusion of new plant introductions in botanic gardens meant their scientific role

15232-558: Was called the herbularis or hortus medicus —more generally known as a physic garden, and a viridarium or orchard. These gardens were probably given impetus when Charlemagne issued a capitulary , the Capitulary de Villis, which listed 73 herbs to be used in the physic gardens of his dominions. Many of these were found in British gardens even though they only occurred naturally in continental Europe, demonstrating earlier plant introduction. Pope Nicholas V set aside part of

15360-556: Was formed in 1954 as a worldwide organisation affiliated to the International Union of Biological Sciences . More recently, coordination has also been provided by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), which has the mission "To mobilise botanic gardens and engage partners in securing plant diversity for the well-being of people and the planet". BGCI has over 700 members – mostly botanic gardens – in 118 countries, and strongly supports

15488-471: Was instrumental in establishing the gardens. Henry John Wilkinson reports as follows: "Mr. Hincks was lecturer on botany at the York School of Medicine, and the services he rendered to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society for over ten years deserve our grateful thanks. He devoted his leisure time to convert the " waste land " into a botanical and ornamental* garden, and in this work he was ably assisted by

15616-495: Was laid in 1089 by William II . This was replaced between 1270 and 1279 by a church in a Gothic style. The abbey became the wealthiest monastery in the North of England, worth over £ 2,085 a year before it was dissolved by Henry VIII on 25 November 1539. Over the next 200 years the abbey fell into disrepair and the abbey church was largely dismantled for its stone. Stones from the abbey church can be seen lining paths throughout

15744-583: Was located in the south-west corner of the Museum Gardens. It was an open-air pool designed by the architects Samuel and Richard Hey Sharp , one of the designers of the Yorkshire Museum, and measured 110 feet (34 m) by 80 feet (24 m) and had a capacity of approximately 290,000 gallons. It opened to the public on 8 August 1837, and employed a Keeper of the baths throughout its lifespan. 53°57′41″N 1°05′17″W  /  53.96139°N 1.08806°W  / 53.96139; -1.08806 Botanic gardens A botanical garden or botanic garden

15872-643: Was marked by introductions from the Cape of South Africa – including ericas , geraniums , pelargoniums , succulents, and proteaceous plants – while the Dutch trade with the Dutch East Indies resulted in a golden era for the Leiden and Amsterdam botanical gardens and a boom in the construction of conservatories. The Royal Gardens at Kew were founded in 1759, initially as part of

16000-658: Was now widening, as botany gradually asserted its independence from medicine. In the mid to late 17th century, the Paris Jardin des Plantes was a centre of interest with the greatest number of new introductions to attract the public. In England , the Chelsea Physic Garden was founded in 1673 as the "Garden of the Society of Apothecaries". The Chelsea garden had heated greenhouses , and in 1723 appointed Philip Miller (1691–1771) as head gardener . He had

16128-414: Was opened to the public by a team of volunteers. The building is currently opened every Thursday and Saturday 11.30 until 2.30. The clock in the observatory was made by Barraud of London in 1811, and during the 19th century it was used to set the time for other clocks in York. At the eastern, Museum Street, entrance to the gardens is Museum Gardens' Lodge built in 1874 to a design by George Fowler Jones in

16256-470: Was originally covered by an earth bank. The wall and towers were still in use after the end of the Roman period in Britain, and were subsequently incorporated into the medieval city walls . As late as the English Civil War they were being used to defend the city, and there is a hole in the wall along from the Multangular Tower that was made by a cannonball during this period. The Roman parts of

16384-442: Was the investigation of the local flora for its economic potential to both the colonists and the local people. Many crop plants were introduced by or through these gardens – often in association with European botanical gardens such as Kew or Amsterdam – and included cloves , tea , coffee , breadfruit, cinchona , sugar , cotton , palm oil and Theobroma cacao (for chocolate). During these times,

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