Collections
Owing to a shortage of hothouses, the plants are mainly located outdoors. Six thousand types of plants are currently being cultivated and arranged according to taxonomic, utilitarian, ecological-environmental and historical standards. The systematic collection is concentrated in the four biggest central flowerbeds. Among the utilitarian collections, the medicinal plants are the most important. These are classified according to Engler taxonomy, based on the phylogenetic relationships among the families. Each plant is labelled with its scientific noun and its principal therapeutical properties. A poisonous plants collection has recently been set up with didactic aims: many of these poisonous plants are found also in the medicinal plants sector because in suitable quantities they can be used to treat illness and diseases.
Collections of the garden include:
- Insectivorous plants: found in nitrogen-poor soils, these plants must use the proteins of some small insects captured with their leaves to avoid deficiencies.
- Medicinal and Poisonous plants: plants representing the original purpose of the Botanical Garden.
- Plants From the Euganean Hills and Triveneto Region: a collection of representative plants from the Euganean Hills and the area surrounding the Botanical Garden. There is also a section devoted to the collection, preservation and study of plants in danger of extinction.
- Carnivorous plants
- Orchids
- Aquatic plants
- Alpine plants
- Mediterranean plants
Read more about this topic: Orto Botanico Di Padova
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