Arboretum de la Vallée-aux-Loups
Encyclopedia
The Arboretum de la Vallée-aux-Loups (13.5 hectares) is a notable arboretum
located at 102 rue de Chateaubriand, near the Maison de Chateaubriand, in Châtenay-Malabry
, Hauts-de-Seine
, Île-de-France
, France
. It is open daily except Monday, but closed in January; an admission fee is charged.
The park was created circa 1777 by the Chevalier François-Louis Durant du Bignon. It was confiscated during the French Revolution
, changed hands several times, and then acquired in 1804 by Louis Cadet de Gassicourt, pharmacist to Napoleon, who collected and maintained rare plants on the property. (In 1807 an adjacent house was purchased by François-René de Chateaubriand
, which he christened La Vallée aux Loups, "Valley of the Wolves", and where he subsequently dwelled with his wife until 1818.) The park was sold in 1890 to Louis-Gustave Croux who created today's arboretum. In 1986 it was sold once more to the Conseil Général des Hauts-de-Seine, its current owner.
Today the garden is laid out as a landscaped park with a pond, island, and bridges, and contains about 2500 plants representing more than 500 woody species
, including 165 species of trees. It is organized into a dozen gardens, including an English garden
, fruit
garden, chestnut
garden, and Convolvulaceae
collection. The hydrangea
garden contains more than 300 cultivar
s, and is nationally designated one of the Conservatoire des Collections Végétales Spécialisées (CCVS).
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
located at 102 rue de Chateaubriand, near the Maison de Chateaubriand, in Châtenay-Malabry
Châtenay-Malabry
Châtenay-Malabry is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 10.8 km from the center of Paris.The commune includes the valley la vallée aux loups with green forests and pretty houses including the estate of French writer Chateaubriand. It also includes the Butte...
, Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine is designated number 92 of the 101 départements in France. It is part of the Île-de-France region, and covers the western inner suburbs of Paris...
, Île-de-France
Île-de-France (région)
Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It is open daily except Monday, but closed in January; an admission fee is charged.
The park was created circa 1777 by the Chevalier François-Louis Durant du Bignon. It was confiscated during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, changed hands several times, and then acquired in 1804 by Louis Cadet de Gassicourt, pharmacist to Napoleon, who collected and maintained rare plants on the property. (In 1807 an adjacent house was purchased by François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature.-Early life and exile:...
, which he christened La Vallée aux Loups, "Valley of the Wolves", and where he subsequently dwelled with his wife until 1818.) The park was sold in 1890 to Louis-Gustave Croux who created today's arboretum. In 1986 it was sold once more to the Conseil Général des Hauts-de-Seine, its current owner.
Today the garden is laid out as a landscaped park with a pond, island, and bridges, and contains about 2500 plants representing more than 500 woody species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
, including 165 species of trees. It is organized into a dozen gardens, including an English garden
English garden
The English garden, also called English landscape park , is a style of Landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The...
, fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
garden, chestnut
Chestnut
Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...
garden, and Convolvulaceae
Convolvulaceae
Convolvulaceae, known commonly as the bindweed or morning glory family, are a group of about 60 genera and more than 1,650 species of mostly herbaceous vines, but also trees, shrubs and herbs.- Description :...
collection. The hydrangea
Hydrangea
Hydrangea is a genus of about 70 to 75 species of flowering plants native to southern and eastern Asia and North and South America. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Japan, and Korea...
garden contains more than 300 cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s, and is nationally designated one of the Conservatoire des Collections Végétales Spécialisées (CCVS).