The Rennsteiggarten Oberhof (7 hectares) is a botanical garden

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...

 specializing in mountain flora, located in Rennsteig at Am Pfanntalskopf 3, Oberhof

Oberhof, Germany

Oberhof is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district of Thuringia, Germany. It is a winter sports center and health resort. It is visited by tenfold as many tourists every year...

, Thuringia

Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. It is open daily in the warmer months; an admission fee is charged.

The garden was established in 1970 on the grounds of a former 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...

 at an elevation of 868 meters on the Pfanntalskopf. In 1972 the Cultural Federation and University of Jena agreed to scientific support, and plantings began with material from the Botanischer Garten Jena

Botanischer Garten Jena

The Botanischer Garten Jena is the second oldest botanical garden in Germany, maintained by the University of Jena and located at Fürstengraben 26, Jena, Thuringia, Germany. It is open daily; an admission fee is charged....

. In 1980 an indigenous plant bog

Bog

A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

 was created, with a nature garden begun in 1985 for protected plants from the Thuringia

Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....

n mountains, and in 1993 a garden of Thuringian herb

Herb

Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...

s.

Today the garden contains about 4,000 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...

 from the mountains of 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...

, Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, North

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, 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...

, and the Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

, with a special focus on protected species of Thuringia

Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....

. Specimens of interest include Acinos alpinus

Acinos alpinus

Rock thyme is a perennial plant of the Lamiaceae family. Synonyms include Calamintha alpina Lam., Thymus alpinus , and Satureja alpina . There are two subspecies of rock thyme: A. alpinus meriodionalis, with smaller flowers; and A. alpinus majoranifolius, which grows in smaller bunches...

, Adonis vernalis

Adonis vernalis

Adonis vernalis, known variously as pheasant's eye, spring pheasant's eye, yellow pheasant's eye and false hellebore, is a perennial flowering plant found in dry meadows and steppes in Eurasia...

, Androsace carnea, Androsace helvetica, Aquilegia formosa, Arctostaphylos alpina, Calceolaria darwinii

Calceolaria darwinii

Calceolaria uniflora is a perennial plant of the genus Calceolaria. It is originally from Tierra del Fuego in the southern part of South America....

, Callianthemum anemonoides, Caltha howellii, Campanula barbata, Cornus canadensis

Cornus canadensis

Cornus canadensis is a herbaceous member of the Cornaceae family...

, Cypripedium calceolus

Cypripedium calceolus

Cypripedium calceolus is a lady's-slipper orchid, and the type species of the genus Cypripedium.It is a widespread plant worldwide, found from Europe east through Asia to the Pacific Ocean. It is found in open woodland on moist calcareous soils. It is found in continental Europe growing in the...

, Daphne arbuscula, Daphne blagayana, Dianthus glacialis, Eryngium alpinum

Eryngium alpinum

Eryngium alpinum is a herbaceous perennial plant of Eryngium genus, belonging to the Apiaceae family.-Etymology:...

, Fritillaria meleagris

Fritillaria meleagris

Fritillaria meleagris is a fritillary in the family Liliaceae. Its common names include Snake's Head Fritillary, Snake's Head , Checkered Daffodil, Chess Flower, Frog-cup, Guinea-hen Flower, Leper Lily , Frog-cup, Lazarus bell or, in northern...

, Gentiana asclepiadea

Gentiana asclepiadea

Gentiana asclepiadea is a species of the genus Gentiana. It is native to central and eastern Europe from primarily mountain woodland though it does occur in less wooded open pasture in some areas, perhaps persisting after woodland clearance.One of the larger species within the genus, it produces...

, Gentiana lutea

Gentiana lutea

Gentiana lutea is a species of gentian native to the mountains of central and southern Europe. Other names include 'Yellow Gentian', 'Bitter Root', 'Bitterwort', 'Centiyane', and 'Genciana'.-Growth:...

, Gentiana occidentalis, Gentiana verna, Globularia cordifolia, Helichrysum bellidioides, Incarvillea mairei, Lilium bulbiferum, Lilium carniolicum, Lilium oxypetalum

Lilium oxypetalum

Lilium oxypetalum is a small to medium herb of the lily family which grows to a height of 20-30cm, it is native to the N. W. Himalayas....

, Meconopsis integrifolia, Ramonda nathaliae, Rhododendron camtschaticum, Rhododendron ferrugineum

Rhododendron ferrugineum

Rhododendron ferrugineum is an evergreen shrub that grows just above the tree line in the Alps, Pyrenees, Jura and northern Apennines, on acid soils. It may grow up to 1 m tall and produces clusters of pinkish-red, bell-shaped flowers throughout the summer...

, Salix hylematica, Soldanella alpina

Soldanella alpina

The alpine snowbell or blue moonwort, Soldanella alpina, is a member of the Primulaceae native to the Alps and Pyrenees.- External links :*...

, Teucrium montanum, Thalictrum aquilegifolium, Thymus doerfleri, and Tulipa montana.