GENEVA CITY CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS

French Conservatoire Et Jardin Botaniques De La Ville De Genve, major botanical research centre in Geneva, Switz., specializing in such areas as floristics, biosystematics, and morphology. Founded in 1817, the 19-hectare (47-acre) municipal garden cultivates about 15,000 species of plants; it has important collections of alpine plants and orchids, an arboretum, and special plantings for pedagogic purposes. Many of the plantings are arranged to show characteristic species of different geographic regions of the world. Of the garden's greenhouses, five are designed for public display and three for service functions. Its herbarium, consisting of about five million reference specimens with a worldwide geographic representation, is one of the great collections of Europe. The garden also has an extensive library and a large scientific staff.