Orto Botanico di Napoli

Research Centre of the University of Naples Federico II

Via Foria 223 - 80139 Napoli - Tel.:0812533937 - fax: 081295351 - email: robnap@unina.it

Mission of Naples Botanical Garden

The actual work done by the Botanical Garden is mainly research, teaching and the conservation of rare species or those at risk of extinction besides the cultivation and presentation  of museum collections and the organization of artistic and cultural exhibitions.

Research

The research done by the Botanical Garden is principally the study of the macro and micromorphological characteristics of some groups of plants for example : cycadales  and  orchidaceae,  ethnobotanical researches in rural areas of central and southern Italy and the analysing  of vegetable fossils from geographical sites in the Campania region.

Furthermore it is clear that the collections of the Botanical Garden represent a reservoir of vegetal  substances used for studies purposes by researchers in the Plant Biology Section of the Department of Biological Science..

Education and Conservation

The teaching carried out at the Botanical Garden not only applies to university students but also to secondary  school and college students.  Guided visits are conducted by specialized personel every year. Annual courses are organized for the teaching body enabling it to qualify in the methods used by the Botanical Garden and about its collection.

The conservation and protection of rare entities, endemic  i.e. on the way to becoming extinct, is an activity that as time passes has become more and more important in the Partenopean Garden. There are collections of plants that are becoming rarer in their natural environment for example the cycladales and the arboreous ferns. Live endemic entities growing in the Campania region are also cultivated for example Kochia saxicola and Primula palinuri and others that have disappeared from their natural environment such as the Ipomea imperati. These local species are reproduced and multiplied in order to obtain a substantial number to be used in an eventual reintroduction into nature if these species should disappear from their natural sites.