The Alameda Gibraltar Botanic Gardens
Encyclopedia
The Gibraltar Botanic Gardens or La Alameda Gardens are a botanical garden
in Gibraltar
, spanning around 6 hectares (14.8 acre).
General George Don
in order to provide a recreational area for the Garrison at the time. Serving that purpose for many years, the gardens fell into disrepair in the 1970s until the Gibraltar Botanic Gardens project, funded by a firm of environmental consultants and managers, Wildlife (Gibraltar) Limited, came about in 1991. Since 1994, the Gardens contain also a zoo
: the Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park
.
In the Second World War the gardens were a popular meeting place for the thousands of homosexual soldiers and sailors that passed through Gibraltar on their way to the various fronts. In the later years of the war the Military Police regularly raided the gardens to enforce the ban on homosexuality in the British and American armed forces and Merchant Navy.
in 1815, which did not materialise in the form initially requested. A colossal statue of General Eliot, carved from the bowsprit
of the Spanish ship San Juan Nepomuceno, taken at the Battle of Trafalgar
was created in lieu. The statue was taken to the Governor's residence, The Convent
, where it stands today, being replaced by a bronze bust
in 1858.
The plants of the Alameda Gardens are a combination of native species and others brought in from abroad:
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...
in Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
, spanning around 6 hectares (14.8 acre).
History
The gardens were founded in 1816 by Governor of GibraltarGovernor of Gibraltar
The Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The Governor is appointed by the British Monarch on the advice of the British Government...
General George Don
George Don (British Army officer)
General Sir George Don GCB, GCH was a senior British Army military officer and colonial governor during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries...
in order to provide a recreational area for the Garrison at the time. Serving that purpose for many years, the gardens fell into disrepair in the 1970s until the Gibraltar Botanic Gardens project, funded by a firm of environmental consultants and managers, Wildlife (Gibraltar) Limited, came about in 1991. Since 1994, the Gardens contain also a zoo
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
: the Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park
Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park
The Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park is a small wildlife park situated in the Botanic Gardens in Gibraltar.-History:The Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park began in 1994 as a collection of parrots, tortoises and monkeys all confiscated from illegal traders who were passing through Gibraltar...
.
In the Second World War the gardens were a popular meeting place for the thousands of homosexual soldiers and sailors that passed through Gibraltar on their way to the various fronts. In the later years of the war the Military Police regularly raided the gardens to enforce the ban on homosexuality in the British and American armed forces and Merchant Navy.
The Eliott Memorial
General Don had commissioned a memorial of George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron HeathfieldGeorge Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield
George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield, KB was a British Army officer who took served in three major wars during the eighteenth century. He rose to distinction during the Seven Years War when he fought in Germany and participated in the British attacks on Belle Île and Cuba...
in 1815, which did not materialise in the form initially requested. A colossal statue of General Eliot, carved from the bowsprit
Bowsprit
The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a pole extending forward from the vessel's prow. It provides an anchor point for the forestay, allowing the fore-mast to be stepped farther forward on the hull.-Origin:...
of the Spanish ship San Juan Nepomuceno, taken at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
was created in lieu. The statue was taken to the Governor's residence, The Convent
The Convent (Gibraltar)
The Convent has been the official residence of the Governor of Gibraltar since 1728. It was originally a convent of Franciscan friars, hence its name, and was completed in 1531....
, where it stands today, being replaced by a bronze bust
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
in 1858.
Plants of the gardens
- Dracaena dracoDracaena dracoDracaena draco, the Canary Islands Dragon Tree or Drago isa subtropical Dragon Tree native to the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Madeira, and locally in western Morocco, and introduced to the Azores...
(Canary Islands Dragon Tree), a subtropical Dragon TreeDracaena (plant)Dracaena is a genus of about 40 species of trees and succulent shrubs. In the APG III classification system, it is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae . It has also formerly been separated into the family Dracaenaceae or placed in the Agavaceae...
native to the Canary IslandsCanary IslandsThe Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, Cape VerdeCape VerdeThe Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...
, MadeiraMadeiraMadeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
, AzoresAzoresThe Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
, and locally in western MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. The oldest dragon tree in the gardens is about 300 years old. - Stone pineStone PineThe Stone Pine , is also called Italian Stone Pine, or Umbrella Pine , and Parasol Pine. It is in the pine family Pinaceae and occasionally listed under the invalid name Pinus sativa. The tree is native to the Mediterranean region...
(Pinus pinea), a species of pinePinePines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
native of southern EuropeEuropeEurope 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...
, primarily the Iberian PeninsulaIberian PeninsulaThe Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
. - Wild OliveOliveThe olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
(Olea europaea), a speciesSpeciesIn 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...
of small treeTreeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
in the familyFamily (biology)In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
OleaceaeOleaceaeOleaceae are a family containing 24 extant genera and around 600 species of mesophytic shrubs, trees and occasionally vines. As shrubs, members of this family may be twine climbers, or scramblers.-Leaves:...
. - Celtis australisCeltis australisCeltis australis, commonly known as the European nettle tree, Mediterranean hackberry, lote tree, or honeyberry, is a deciduous tree that can grow 20 or 25 meters in height....
(European Nettle Tree), a deciduousDeciduousDeciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
treeTreeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
that can be among 20 to 25 metres of height. - Grevillea robustaGrevillea robustaGrevillea robusta, commonly known as the southern silky oak or Silky-oak, or Australian Silver-oak, is the largest species in the genus Grevillea. It is a native of eastern coastal Australia, in riverine, subtropical and dry rainforest environments receiving more than 1,000 mm per year of...
(Australian Silk Oak), the largest species in the genus Grevillea. There is only one specimen of this tree in the gardens. - Canary Island Date PalmCanary Island Date PalmPhoenix canariensis is a species in the palm family Arecaceae, native to the Canary Islands. It is a relative of Phoenix dactylifera, the true date palm....
(Phoenix canariensis), a large palmArecaceaeArecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
native to the Canary IslandsCanary IslandsThe Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
off the Atlantic coast of north AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. - Washingtonia filiferaWashingtonia filiferaWashingtonia filifera , with the common names California Fan Palm , Desert Fan Palm, Cotton palm, and Arizona Fan Palm. It is a palm native to southwestern North America between an elevation range of , at seeps, desert bajadas, and springs where underground water is continuously available...
(Washingtonia), a palmArecaceaeArecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
native to the desertDesertA desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
oasesOasisIn geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...
of Central, southern and southwestern ArizonaArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, southern Nevada, extreme northwest MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and inland deserts of southern CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. - Howea forsteriana (Kentia palm), endemicEndemic (ecology)Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
to Lord Howe IslandLord Howe IslandLord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about from Norfolk Island. The island is about 11 km long and between 2.8 km and 0.6 km wide with an area of...
. - Solitaire Palm Ptychosperma elegans
- Chinese hibiscusChinese hibiscusHibiscus rosa-sinensis, known colloquially as the Chinese hibiscus, China rose and shoe flower, is an evergreen flowering shrub native to East Asia....
(Hibiscus rosa-sinensis), an evergreenEvergreenIn botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
shrubShrubA shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
native to East AsiaEast AsiaEast Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
. - BougainvilleaBougainvilleaBougainvillea is a genus of flowering plants native to South America from Brazil west to Peru and south to southern Argentina . Different authors accept between four and 18 species in the genus...
, a genus of flowering plantFlowering plantThe flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s native to South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth 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...
from BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
west to PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and south to southern ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
(Chubut ProvinceChubut ProvinceChubut a province in the southern part of Argentina situated between the 42nd parallel south and the 46th parallel south , the Andes range separating Argentina from Chile, and the Atlantic ocean...
). - AsteraceaeAsteraceaeThe Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
(daisies), the second largest family family of flowering plantFlowering plantThe flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s. - PelargoniumPelargoniumPelargonium is a genus of flowering plants which includes about 200 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly known as scented geraniums or storksbills. Confusingly, Geranium is the correct botanical name of a separate genus of related plants often called Cranesbills. Both Geranium...
, a genusGenusIn biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of flowering plantFlowering plantThe flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s. - Succulent plantSucculent plantSucculent plants, also known as succulents or fat plants, are water-retaining plants adapted to arid climates or soil conditions. Succulent plants store water in their leaves, stems, and also in roots...
, waterWaterWater is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
-retaining plantPlantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s adapted to aridAridA region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life...
climate or soilSoilSoil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
conditions.
See also
- Gibraltar candytuft
- Alameda Wildlife Conservation ParkAlameda Wildlife Conservation ParkThe Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park is a small wildlife park situated in the Botanic Gardens in Gibraltar.-History:The Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park began in 1994 as a collection of parrots, tortoises and monkeys all confiscated from illegal traders who were passing through Gibraltar...
- GroveGrove (nature)A grove is a small group of trees with minimal or no undergrowth, such as a sequoia grove, or a small orchard planted for the cultivation of fruits or nuts...
- Poplar avenue