The Jardins de Coursiana, also known as the Arboretum Coursiana, are botanical gardens with an arboretum (6 hectares) located in La Romieu, Gers, Midi-Pyrénées, France. They are open daily in the warmer months; an admission fee is charged.
A botanical garden or botanic garden is a garden dedicated to the collection, cultivation, preservation and display of a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names. It may contain specialist plant collections such as cacti and other succulent plants, herb gardens, plants from particular parts of the world, and so on; there may be greenhouses, shadehouses, again with special collections such as tropical plants, alpine plants, or other exotic plants. Visitor services at a botanical garden might include tours, educational displays, art exhibitions, book rooms, open-air theatrical and musical performances, and other entertainment.
An arboretum in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees. More commonly a modern arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants and is intended at least in part for scientific study.
La Romieu is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France.
The arboretum was created in 1974 by eminent French botanist Gilbert Cours-Darne. In 2000 its Tilia collection (more than 60 taxa) was designated a national collection by the Conservatoire des collections végétales spécialisées (CCVS), in 2001 the garden of aromatic and medicinal plants was begun, and in 2005 the ensemble was designated a Jardin remarquable by the Minister of Culture.
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees, or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. In the British Isles they are commonly called lime trees, or lime bushes, although they are not closely related to the tree that produces the lime fruit. Other names include linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. The genus occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but the greatest species diversity is found in Asia. Under the Cronquist classification system, this genus was placed in the family Tiliaceae, but genetic research summarised by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has resulted in the incorporation of this genus, and of most of the previous family, into the Malvaceae.
In biology, a taxon is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and given a particular ranking, especially if and when it is accepted or becomes established. It is not uncommon, however, for taxonomists to remain at odds over what belongs to a taxon and the criteria used for inclusion. If a taxon is given a formal scientific name, its use is then governed by one of the nomenclature codes specifying which scientific name is correct for a particular grouping.
Today the arboretum contains 700 species of trees and shrubs, including mature Quercus robur (200 years old), as well as Aesculus californica , Alnus cresmatogyne , Davidia involucrata , Firmiana simplex , Parrotia persica , Sassafras officinalis , Tilia americana nova, Tilia chemnoui , and Tilia henryana . The gardens also include an English garden, vegetable garden, and garden of aromatic and medicinal plants.
Quercus robur, commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. The tree is widely cultivated in temperate regions and has escaped into the wild in scattered parts of China and North America.
Aesculus californica, commonly known as the California buckeye or California horse-chestnut, is a species of buckeye native to California and southwestern Oregon.
Davidia involucrata, the dove-tree, handkerchief tree, pocket handkerchief tree, or ghost tree, is a medium-sized deciduous tree in the family Nyssaceae. It was previously included with tupelos in the dogwood family, Cornaceae. It is native to South Central and Southwest China from Hubei to southern Gansu, south to Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan, but is widely cultivated elsewhere.
