Conservatoire botanique national de Brest
Encyclopedia
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
located at 52 Allée du Bot, Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, Finistère
Finistère
Finistère is a département of France, in the extreme west of Brittany.-History:The name Finistère derives from the Latin Finis Terræ, meaning end of the earth, and may be compared with Land's End on the opposite side of the English Channel...
, in the region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
of Brittany, 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 without charge.
The conservatory site was formerly a quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
and rubbish dump, purchased in 1971 by the municipality to create open space. The conservatory itself was founded in 1977 with a primary mission of preserving endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
from the Armorican Massif
Armorican Massif
The Armorican Massif is a geologic massif that covers a large area in the northwest of France, including Brittany, the western part of Normandy and the Pays de la Loire. Its name comes from the old Armorica, a Gaul area between the Loire and the Seine rivers...
(including parts of Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, Basse-Normandie
Basse-Normandie
Lower Normandy is an administrative region of France. It was created in 1956, when the Normandy region was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy...
and Pays de la Loire
Pays de la Loire
Pays de la Loire is one of the 27 regions of France. It is one of the regions created in the late 20th century to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful so-called "balancing metropolises" ¹...
), 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...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and islands around the world, but also including plants from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Since 1990 it has been designated a National Botanical Conservation Center to protect endangered and protected plants of the Armorican Massif.
Today the conservatory contains a remarkable collection of endangered plants, totaling about 1700 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...
, of which 20 species have been preserved in large part by the conservatory's actions. These very rare plants include Brighamia insignis
Brighamia insignis
Brighamia insignis, commonly known as Ōlulu or Alula in Hawaiian, or colloquially as cabbage on a stick, is a critically endangered species of Hawaiian lobelioid in the bellflower family, Campanulaceae. It is native to the islands of Kauai and Niihau...
, Centaurium favargeri, Cheirolophus massonianus, Cylindrocline lorencei
Cylindrocline lorencei
Cylindrocline lorencei is a small tree that was native to the island of Mauritius, with only one specimen ever observed in the wild. By 1990 the species was considered extinct, and the only available seed could not be germinated. Brest Botanic Gardens successfully performed in vitro culture of a...
, Dombeya cacuminum, Hibiscus insularis
Hibiscus insularis
The Philip Island Hibiscus is a species of hibiscus that is endemic to Phillip Island, a small island to the south of Norfolk Island. The entire natural extent of this species is just two small clumps, and each clump apparently consists of multiple separate stems of a single genotype...
, Hibiscus liliiflorus, Impatiens thomassetii, Limonium humile, Normania triphylla, Ruizia cordata, and Trochetia boutoniana
Trochetia boutoniana
Trochetia boutoniana also known by its native Mauritian name Boucle d'Oreille is a shrub from the Trochetia genus endemic to Mauritius. Traditionally included in the family Sterculiaceae, it is included in the expanded Malvaceae in the APG and most subsequent systematics.-Description:It can reach a...
.
Additional specimens of interest include Amorphophallus titanum, Asparagus fallax, Astrophytum myriostigma
Astrophytum myriostigma
Astrophytum myriostigma is a species of cactus native to the highlands of northeastern and central Mexico....
, Angraecum sesquipedale
Angraecum sesquipedale
Angraecum sesquipedale is an epiphytic orchid in the genus Angraecum that is endemic to Madagascar. The orchid was first discovered by the French botanist Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars in 1798, but was not described until 1822...
, Commelina rupicola, Geranium maderense, Hibiscus storckii, Lavandula pinnata
Lavandula pinnata
Lavandula pinnata is a plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae.-Description:Lavandula pinnata is a small shrub with opposite, simple, pinnately dissected leaves, and square stems. The flowers are purple, borne in summer....
, Limonium dendroides, Monizia edulis, Pachypodium rosulatum
Pachypodium rosulatum
Pachypodium rosulatum, common name Elephant's Foot Plant, belongs to the dogbane family Apocynaceae.-Description:Pachypodium rosulatum is a shrubby perennial caudiciform plant with a bottle-shaped trunk, brownnish silver and almost spineless, about wide and about tall. From the caudex depart many...
, Pelargonium cotyledonis
Pelargonium cotyledonis
Pelargonium cotyledonis is an endemic of the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a white flowered, deciduous succulent plant, and is considered endangered.-External links:*...
, Tolpis glabrescens, Tournefortia bojeri, and Turbina inopinata.
The conservatory includes greenhouse
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
s (1000 m² total area), containing over 200 taxa
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
of which 95% are endangered, which are subdivided into four sections: tropical mountains, dry tropics, humid tropical forests, and subtropical ocean islands. It also contains a herbarium (about 5,000 specimens) and cold storage rooms for packs of seeds.