The Lankester Botanical Gardens (also known as the Jardín Botánico Lankester or Charles H. Lankester Botanical Garden) are a set of gardens outside of

Cartago, Costa Rica Cartago () is the head city of Cartago canton of the Cartago Province, and is composed of the Oriental and Occidental districts as stated in the administrative divisions of Costa Rica. It was the capital of Costa Rica from 1574 to 1824. His ...

. The garden is open to the public, but is operated by the

University of Costa Rica The University of Costa Rica (Spanish: ''Universidad de Costa Rica,'' abbreviated UCR) is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro Mo ...

(UCR) as a research center and is a major center for orchid research in both

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

and the Caribbean.

History

After some previous times in Costa Rica from 1900 onwards, Charles H. Lankester moved from England to Costa Rica in 1910, and around the same time began collecting

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s. Collecting samples, he sent them to orchidologists at

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

for identification. In 1924, he bought a coffee farm, known as ''Las Cóncavas'' from Francisco Quesada near Cartago, Costa Rica. On the farm was a large lagoon which attracted migratory birds. Near the lagoon, Lankester created an area which he called ''El Silvestre'' (uncultivated), which was reserved for orchids and other tropical plants. In 1955, he sold the rest of the farm, retaining only ''El Silvestre''. When Lankester died in 1969, his daughter Dorothy inherited the property. In 1973, Dorothy sold the farm to the University of Costa Rica on the condition that it would be retained as a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe 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 ...

. At the instigation of

Rafael Lucas Rodríguez Rafael Lucas Rodríguez Caballero (March 24, 1915 in San Ramón (canton), San Ramón – January 29, 1981) was a Costa Rican biologist, botanist, and artist known for his drawings of Costa Rican wildlife. He was a recipient of the Magón National ...

, the funds to secure the purchase were raised by donations from the Costa Rican Orchid Society, the

American Orchid Society The American Orchid Society (AOS) is a horticultural society for education, conservation, and research of orchids. It was founded in 1921, and has an international membership. It is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. It has been called an "indus ...

and the

Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

. In 1979, Dora Emilia Mora de Retana was named first director of the garden. Mora worked to preserve the botanical garden and promote it as a research facility. Under her direction, UCR developed a course on orchidology in 1984 and the garden slowly grew to become an important center for study in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

and Central America.

Today

The mission statement of Lankester Garden is to "promote conservation, enjoyment and sustainable use of the epiphytic flora through scientific research, horticulture, and environmental education."

The garden sits on 11 hectares (27.2 acres) and is home to over 3000 species of plants, principally

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

s, including

s and

bromeliad The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a Family (biology), family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the Tropics, tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and on ...

s. In 2003 the garden was redesignated by UCR as an experiment station to emphasize its dedication to scientific research. Two years later, the Environmental Ministry designated the garden "National Center for the Conservation of Flora" and "National Epiphyte Sanctuary".

Japanese garden

The only

japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

of the country is located within the garden, it was donated by the

Japanese Government The Government of Japan is the central government of Japan. It consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and functions under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan. Japan is a unitary state, containing forty- ...

and inaugurated on 28 May 2009. It contains elements such as a pond, teahouse, stone garden, stone lanterns, arch bridge and bamboo forest.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Jardin Botánico Lankester (English)
{{Coord, 9, 50, 20, N, 83, 53, 25, W, display=title, type:landmark Botanical gardens in Costa Rica University of Costa Rica Tourist attractions in Cartago Province Geography of Cartago Province