Gothenburg Botanical Garden features 16,000 plant species

The Gothenburg Botanical Garden is located in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is one of the larger botanical gardens in Europe. Funded by a donation from the Charles Felix Lindberg Foundation in memory of Swedish businessman Charles Felix Lindberg, the garden was initiated by the Gothenburg City Council in 1912. Work started in 1916, and the garden was opened to the public in 1919 and 1923. It was first planned as a field for experimentation and biological demonstrations and a nature park.

Carl Skottsberg, a botanist who traveled the globe to collect rare plants, was appointed as the first director in 1919. The garden's operation was handed over to the Region Västra Götaland Regional Council in 1998. Nearby, the country estate Stora Änggården was renovated in 1919 and now serves as a staff residence. The garden includes the Änggårdsbergen nature reserve, which contains an arboretum with collections of exotic trees from many parts of the world.

The total area is 175 hectares, of which most constitutes the nature reserve. The cultivated garden proper is about 40 hectares and contains 16,000 different species. The greenhouses house 4,000 various plants, including 1,500 orchids and the unique Sophora toromiro tree from Easter Island, which is extinct in its natural habitat. The garden also features the world's largest collection of bulbs and tuberous plants.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons