We may find plants less endearing than animals, and less precious than minerals, but they are as an essential part of human life as they ever were. They nourish us, they cover and decorate our bodies, we use them to fight disease, to fashion objects we need in our daily lives, and much more besides.
These are just a few of the stories recounted by the objects in the University of Padova’s Botanical Museum – fruits, seeds, wood samples, model fungi, educational displays – a collection that has been built up, for the most part, from the start of the nineteenth century onwards. The herbarium, meanwhile, contains more than 600,000 specimens of dried plants, algae, fungi, lichens and galls. It is recognised internationally by its code, PAD.
In a constantly changing world, where we see an ever-increasing amount of land used by humans for farming and construction, where extravagant, and frequently misguided practices lead to the destruction of fragile environments like streams and rivers, and where an anomalous, progressive rise in temperatures has led to the displacement (almost a migration) of certain species, maintaining a record of how the environment – near and far – was not so very long ago is an act of vital importance. This huge stockpile of information could, one day, be the basis for a process of much needed environmental renewal, but it also serves an educational purpose. Far from old and dusty, then, these objects are a source of constant curiosity and learning and, perhaps most importantly of all, an inspiration for younger generations.

DISCOVER THE NEW BOTANICAL MUSEUM

Botanical Museum

Via Orto botanico, 15 – 35123 Padova
Part of the Botanical Garden
Tel. +39 049-8272110
email: museo.botanico@unipd.it

Curator: Rossella Marcucci
Tel. +39 339 5880429
e-mail: rossella.marcucci@unipd.it

Museum technician: Dalila Giacobbe
Tel. +39 331 7501115
e-mail: dalila.giacobbe@unipd.it

University Botanical Garden
via Orto botanico, 15
I 35122 Padova
Tel: +39 049 8272119
Fax: +39 049 8272120

Scientific supervisor: Prof. Elena Canadelli
Tel. 049 8278555
e-mail: elena.canadelli@unipd.it

Director: Prof Tomas Morosinotto