Talk:Orto botanico di Padova

Article: it:Orto botanico di Padova

 * Corresponding English-language article : Botanical Garden of Padova
 * Worth doing because : Italian article is longer than the English stub we have here.
 * Originally Requested by :physicistjedi 19:35, 14 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Status : Done. --Lacatosias 08:57, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Untitled
If you would like me to aslo translate the templates used in the artcile, just let me know.--Lacatosias 10:35, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Reverted
Here is the material that an anonymous user posted and which I reverted because he had blanked the previous page, the Capitalization of the section headings was wrong, there was bad formatting of the quoatations and there were, most impirtantly, no refernces (in short, it looked like a complete mess). Nevertheless, there seems to be some intersting an valuable material in here which I am not able to verify, so I wil post it here for others to read and see what can be verified and included in the article:

The Botanical Garden, founded in 1545, is the most ancient university botanical garden in the world. It was set up on deliberation of the Venetian Republic Senate and it was devoted to the growth of medicinal plants, the so-called “simple” plants” which produced natural remedies. That is why the first botanical garden was called “Garden of simple plants”. The botanical garden would help students to distinguish real medicinal plants from false ones. A circular wall enclosure was built to protect the garden from the frequent night thefts occurring, in spite of the severe penalties(fines, prison, exile) provided by the law. The Garden was steadily enriched with plants from all over the world particularly from the countries that had commercial exchanges with Venice and consequently Padua had a leading role in the introduction and study of many exotic plants. A herbarium, a library and many laboratories were gradually added to the Botanical Garden. As many other foreign and Italian universities, the Botanical garden carries ant an intensive didactic activity as well as, many researches and cares for the preservation of many rare species. In 1997 the Botanical Garden was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list.

THE ARCHITECTURE

In the first half of the 16th century there was an extraordinary development in public building: a new powerful wall was raised and Andrea Moroni realised some of the most important public monuments in Padua such as Santa Gustina basilica in Prato Della Valle, the town hall and the university. Tradition has it that the republic of Venice assigned to Moroni the realisation of the garden. As a matter of fact it had been planned by Daniele Barbaro, a Venetian nobleman who was a person of vast learning and translator of Vitruvio’s “De Architectura”. He followed the example of medieval Horti Conclusi,(enclosed gardens), while the powerful architecture was marked by a perfect pattern of a square within a circle, divided into four parts by two paths oriented according to the Cardinal points. The Garden was built in such a short time that it was inaugurated in 1543 while lessons were started the following year. At the end of the 16th century the garden was also enriched with many fountains fed by a gigantic wheel hydrophore whose main purpose was to guarantee a proper irrigation. The current aspect of the principal palace dates backs to 17th and 18th century. In 1704 the four gates and the gateways were built with huge embellished acroterions in red stone topped by plants made of wrought iron. In the first half of the 18th century along the external perimeter the wall was refined by a balustrade made of Istria Stone on which vases and half-length portraits of important characters were placed. The statue of Teophfrastus was built in the same century beside the south door as well as the statue of Solomon, (signed by Antonio Bonazza), local point for the east door and the four seasons fountain, which was enriched with 18th century portraits made of Carrara marble. In the garden there are also three sundials: a cubic one, a circular one and a cylindrical one. In the first half of 19th century the greenhouses and the botanic theatre were built and half length portraits of eminent botanists such as Carlo Linneo were placed on the cornice. One of the greenhouse still maintains its arches and its small cast-iron columns.

THE TREES

Until 1984 there was a Vitex agnus-castus whose presence had been aknowledged since 1550. At present the oldest plant is a palm planted in 1585 called “Goethe palm”, because the poet quoted it in his essay “The Metamorphoses of Plants”; this palm is situated in a hothouse inside Ortus Sphearicus, where there is also a ginkgo and a magnolia, dating back to the mid 1700’s, which are regarded as the oldest in Europe. A gigantic plane tree has been living in the outside Arboretum since 1680; it has a hollow trunk, owing to a lightning. In the Arboretum there is also a sectioned trunk of an elm tree, which died in 1991, with marked year rings.

THE COLLECTIONS

Owing to shortage of hothouses the plants are mainly located outdoor. The plants currently grown are about 6000 and they are arranged according to taxonomic, utilitarian, ecological-environmental and historical standards. The systematic collection is concentrated in the four biggest central flowerbeds. Among the utilitarian collections medicinal plants are the most important. The plants are classified according to Engler taxonomy, based on the phylogenetic relationships among the families. Each plant is labelled with its scientific noun and its principal therapeutical properties. A poisonous plants collection has recently been set up with didactic aims. Many of these poisonous plants are found also in the medicinal plants sector because in suitable quantities they can be used to treat illness and diseases. In the Botanical Garden there are also special collections of plants:

INSECTIVORES PLANTS: they grow in soils poor in nitrogen, for this reason they must take it from the proteins of some small insects they capture with their leaves. MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS PLANTS: these plants represent the original purpose for the foundation of the botanical garden. PLANTS FROM EUGANEAN HILLS AND TRIVENETO REGION: this is a collection of representative plants from the Euganean Hills and the area surrounding the garden. There is also a section devoted to the collection, preservation and study of plants in danger of extinction. PLANTS INTRODUCED INTO ITALY THROUGH THE GARDEN: opposite the hothouses you can find plants originally introduced into Italy by the garden end after wards throughout Italy. The year of introduction is marked on the label.

THE HABITATS

Some natural habitats have been rebuilt were typical plants are grown.

--Lacatosias 11:53, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
 * MEDITERRANEAN MAQUIS: it’s the typical coastal vegetation of all the Mediterranean basin with a climate characterised by hot summers andmild winters. The scrub is composed of a thick evergreen underbrush and trees as well as many climbing plants, often with thorns, which make it impenetrable.
 * ALPINE GARDEN: this is the typical alpine area, set above the mountain wood, characterised by tracts of rocky detritus kept together by the roots of the plants: shrubs, small twisted trees such as the mugho pine and the dwarf juniper.
 * FRESH WATER HABITAT: here water plants are grown in many tanks. Even if they belong to different families, these plants undergo similar adaptations caused by the water habitats.
 * SUCCULENT PLANTS: a typical desert habitat is reconstructed in spring and summer where succulent plants are grown.
 * ORCHID GREENHOUSES: this greenhouse is shady and humid. This hot humid micro-habitat allows the cultivation of tropical forest plants.

Copy edit
I've altered some of the wording so the article reads better in English. I really enjoyed it! --Marysunshine 21:41, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

It's a nice article. It just lack references!! The Italian Wikipedia, from which much of this was translated, does not know about references. Period.--Francesco Franco aka Lacatosias 12:36, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

CIAO —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.148.112.25 (talk) 13:19, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

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