National Botanical Garden of Georgia
The Botanical Gardens Tbilisi (Georgian თბილისის ბოტანიკური ბაღი ) is the "Central Botanical Garden of the Georgian Academy of Sciences ". It is the largest botanical garden in the Southern Caucasus and was the largest in the Soviet Union. It is located in the southwest of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi at the foot of the fortress Nariqala. He is about 128 hectares in size.
History
In 1827 an earthquake caused great destruction in the city on, the fortress Nariqala was affected. Parts had to be removed and the citadel of rubble and soil brought in for was from 1845 on the terrain of 400 year old royal fortress garden - the botanical garden created - known as Seidabadi garden. It lies on the slope of Sololaki - ridge in the Legwtachewi Gorge (German Feigenbaum gorge ) 420-680 meters above sea level. Already in 1809 medicinal plants were grown there, they put it on some stone paved terraces and walkways. The valley is crossed by a river with a picturesque waterfall.
A few years after its formation, it has been known for the most beautiful orchids of the Russian Empire. Under the leadership of the German botanist and landscape architect Henry Scharrer garden 1861-1889 was substantially expanded. He built in the 1870s, the first greenhouses, including one for tropical and subtropical plants, and built in 1886 the Botanical Museum. Also, the first seed catalog of the garden, which recorded 457 woody and herbaceous plants, goes back to him. His successor Adolf Christian Roloff intensified from 1902 botanical research and established more international contacts.
After the October Revolution the garden fell into disrepair for lack of money and was systematically built up again after 1945. In the 1980s, he had a large car park and a private apartment building for employees. Since 1943 he is under the Academy of Sciences.
Presence
This botanical garden is now home to some 3,500 species and varieties. His main field of collecting an arboretum, the Caucasian flora, rare and endangered plant species and a biological reserve.
The Arboretum is one of the 1898 -founded Pinetum with fir (Abies ) from around the world. There are about 1000 species of tree and herbaceous plants. Many of them are 150 to 200 years old. Among the tree - rarities of the Botanical Garden include the 180 to 200 -year-old Celtis caucasia (16 m high, 0.85 m diameter), the Zelkova carpinifolia ( 32 m high, 0.82 m diameter) and the Pinus pityusa (31 m high, 0.91 m diameter). You can see, for example, Ginkgo biloba, Cedrus deodara of, the Cupressus sempervirens pyramidalis f and Juglans regia.
About 700 of the plant species in this botanical garden are from Georgia and the southern Caucasus. About 370 of them are on the Red List of Threatened Species and are collected systematically since the 1970s. These include Osmunda regalis, Astragalus caucasicus, Globularia trichosantha, Populus euphratica, biebersteiniana Tulipa, Iris Lasica, Iris iberica, Berberis iberica, Quercus imeretina, pityusa Pinus, Betula raddeana, Arbutus andrachne and phillyrea decora.
The botanical garden has a research institution with several departments for plant introduction and reintroduction, to applied botany, Flori culture, and a library. He has 56 employees, including 36 scientists.
Also, this Botanical Garden is a member of the World Botanical Gardens International Association ( WBGIA ) and is connected via the index Seminum internationally with 150 botanic gardens. In 2000, a joint collecting mission with the Botanical Gardens of Bonn and Munich in Georgia took place as the first Georgian- German collective project.