| Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne entrance gate | |
 | |
| Type | Botanical garden |
| Location | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Coordinates | 37°50′00″S 144°58′49″E / 37.83340°S 144.98033°E |
| Area | 38 hectares (94 acres) |
| Opened | 1846 |
| Operated by | Board of the Royal Botanic Gardens |
| Visitors | 2+ million (approx. per year) |
| Vegetation | Australian native, lawns, non-native traditional gardens |
| Connecting transport | Train, tram, bus, car |
| Facilities | Information centre, gift shop, toilets, barbecues, shelter, cafes |
| Website | rbg.vic.gov.au |
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) are botanic gardens across two sites–Melbourne and Cranbourne.[1]
Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land was reserved on the south side of the Yarra River for a new botanic garden. It extends across 38 hectares (94 acres)[2] that slope to the river with trees, garden beds, lakes and lawns. It displays almost 50,000 individual plants representing 8,500 different species.[2] These are displayed in 30 living plant collections.
Cranbourne Gardens was established in 1970[3] when land was acquired by the Gardens on Melbourne's south-eastern urban fringe for the purpose of establishing a garden dedicated to Australian plants. A generally wild site that is significant for biodiversity conservation, it opened to the public in 1989.[4] On the 363 hectares (897 acres) site, visitors can explore native bushland, heathlands, wetlands and woodlands.[2] One of the features of Cranbourne is the Australian Garden, which celebrates Australian landscapes and flora through the display of approximately 170,000 plants from 1,700 plant varieties.[2] It was completed in 2012.[2]
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria is home to the State Botanical Collection, which is housed in the National Herbarium of Victoria. The collection, which includes 1.5 million preserved plants, algae and fungi, represents the largest herbarium collection in Australia and wider Oceania.[5] It also includes Australia's most comprehensive botanical library.[6]
- ^ "Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria - Cranbourne Gardens". Visit Victoria. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d e "Our Organisation". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
- ^ "Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV)". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
- ^ "Cranbourne Gardens: worthy of a royal title". Melbourne Retirement Communities. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
- ^ Thiers, B. (2020 - continuously updated). National Herbarium of Victoria Collections Summary. Index Herbariorum. A global directory of public herbaria and associated staff. New York Botanical Garden’s Virtual Herbarium. Available from: MEL Collections Summary (accessed 21 August 2020)
- ^ "Herbarium". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 14 October 2024.