WHAT DO THE GUIDED TOURS OF THE “DIMITRIE BRANDZA”

BOTANICAL GARDEN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST

ENTAIL?

ON THE OCCASION OF THE GREAT SHORTS UP PICNIC (THE

2018 EDITION)

THE MENTIONINGS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TOUR

The name of the garden: “Dimitrie Brandza” Botanical Garden of the University of
Bucharest

The name of the volunteer(s) who will be the guide(s) of the tour

The length (time-wise) of the tour: 30-45 min.

All tours are organized by the Team Work Association for the Great Picnic event
ever since its first edition. These tours are nonspecialized and their stated
purpose is to become familiar with the Botanical Garden.

Whoever is interested may return to the garden after the event and request a
specialised tour held by a biologist.

Team Work Association organizes volunteering activities at the Botanical Garden

in Bucharest since 2006. Those who’d like to partake in such activities can follow
the association’s posts published on the group’s Facebook page
(www.facebook.com/TeamWorkNGO) or on the volunteers’ group (Team Work
– Voluntariat la Gradina Botanica). The aforementioned activities addressed to
the volunteers are: gardening or garden management, conditioning spaces (i.e.
the Alley of Magnolias) plus events such as the Annual Spring and Autumn
Cleanings , the Annual Treasure Hunt.

BACKGROUND HISTORY

The Botanical Garden was founded as an institution in 1860 at the initiative of

Doctor Carol Davila and it is situated in the historical Cotroceni neighbourhood of
Bucharest, taking up as much as 17,5 hectares (including 4000 square meters
for the greenhouses) and over 10.000 species of plants.

Being placed under the patronage of the University of Bucharest, the garden
plays an important role within the society, fulfilling functions such as:
• Of Learning and Education (it is a resource for the superior education,
supplying scientific information, formation centre for taxonomists,
educational centre for pupils, students, teachers, professors, decisional
powers and the general public).

• Of Scientific Research (the conservation of the diversity of “ex situ” plants

through organising the germplasm bank, through the development of the
life collections, through the “in vitro” cultivation and repopulation; the
conservation of the “in situ” plants by identifying, recording and monitoring
the data base and the references base etc.)

▪ Of Promoting Cultural Values, disseminating information to the public and

offering specialty consultancy, enriching the Herbarium, the Library, the
Collections of the Botanical Museum, organizing conferences, assuring
the constant consultancy via internet etc).

The Botanical Garden “Dimitrie Brandza” of the University of Bucharest is

organized in different sectors: some are outdoors, populated by perennial or
annual plants which are resistant to the harsh winter conditions, while others are
placed in the sheltered spaces which offer much more protection.

TIMELINE
Founded in 1860, near the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, at the initiative of
Doctor Carol Davila subsequent to a decree signed by Prince Alexandru Ioan
Cuza. The Botanical Garden is inaugurated on the 5th of November 1860.
In 1874, the Botanical Garden was displaced from its old location in the city
centre to the premises of the Sutu Palace, situated in front of the University of
Bucharest. In the same year, the Botanical Garden was placed under the
authority of the university, functioning alongside the Faculty of Science which
was coordinated by the pre-eminent Professor Dr. Dimitrie Brandza.

The first conditioning of the new terrain (which constitutes the nowadays
premises of the Botanical Garden) involved the construction and the filling of the
first greenhouses (which imitated the model of the greenhouses in Liege,
Belgium), the construction of the Botanical Institute which housed (until the
bombardment on the 4th of April 1944) the Vegetal Biology discipline, the
Herbarium and the Botanical Museum and the completion of the tree and shrubs
plantation.

In 1944, at the same time with the first National Session of Scientific Botanical
Communications, the Botanical Garden of Bucharest is bestowed the name of
Prof. Dr. Dimitrie Brandza, who laboured tremendously to rebuild it on its actual
location.
THE TOUR CIRCUIT AND ITS STOPS
▪ The Dobrujan Hillock/ Mound/ Hump

The flora sector of Dobruja is situated on a hillock (small hill) which serves to
depict the specific relief type predominant in Dobruja. A series of rare and
characteristic species, adapted to the climate conditions of Dobruja, are
cultivated on the plateau and the base of the hillock. On the upper half of the
hillock there can be found the wooden species (Jasminum fruticans, Paliurus
spina-christi,Cotinus coggygria), vines (Periploca greaca, Smilax excelsa), and
on the lower half there can be found herbaceous plants (Adonis vernalis,
Paeonia tenuifolia, Paeonia peregrina, Crambe maritima, Gymnospermium
altaicum,Asphodeline lutea, Iris pumila, Geranium tuberosum etc.).

• Grandma’s Garden

Grandma’s Garden is a project sustained by Team Work Association in

partnership with the Botanical Garden “Dimitrie Brandza” of the University of
Bucharest starting with 2011. Through this project the association intends to
raise awareness to school pupils, students, as well as other groups of interest,
about the importance of the garden surrounding one’s home and the importance
of conserving “phytodiversity” by cultivating traditional types. The project entailed
the reconditioning of a traditional Romanian garden for eco-educational and
informative purposes. As such, a 1.100 square meters wide space was selected
within the Botanical Garden, surrounding an old patrimonial manor which was
preserved in the national architectural style specific to the Romanian countryside.
This space was left untouched for 10 years. In the past, it has been used by the
students of the Faculty of Biology as a space for training and instruction (as an
orchard, grapevine) regarding the horticulture lessons. The makeover of the
space involved the uprooting of weeds, the discarding of the barren land,
replacing it with fertile soil, the shovelling of the land and the planting of over
1000 vegetables, aromatic plants, medicinal plants, decorative plants, shrubs
and fruit bearing trees.

▪ The Historical Garden

The Historical Garden is a “Forgotten Herbage” project in close collaboration with

the Botanical Garden. It is the starting point for defining a new sector of the
Garden which is meant to arrest attention in regards to alimentary plants which
have been cultivated in the past. These plants were chosen subsequently to a
very systematic research process, commencing with the more wide-spread and
well-known plants (which are still very much present nowadays) alongside those
which have been gradually forgotten and become scarce.

The Historical Garden was designed to shelter a series of botanical species and
edible varieties consumed throughout European history, some which have
become extinct or fell from the European’s graces. Most Europeans were
rendered reluctant towards consuming them anymore and opted instead for the
plants brought from the New World. The aims of this project are to collect,
preserve and distribute these species, to continue the development through
research and to educate the general public on the importance of alimentary
plants’ diversity.

▪ The Carpathian Mountains

The sector called “The Carpathian Mountains of Romania” (from the 70s)
reproduces on a small-scale the Carpathian chain with its herbaceous, shrubby
and dendrological flora. The species are bundled and separated according to
vegetation zones. In the broadleaf forests there can be found the Austrian or
Turkish Oak (Quercus cerris), the Hungarian or Italian Oak (Q. frainetto), the
Common/ European/ English Oak (Q. robur), the European or Common Beech
(Fagus sylvatica), the Silver Birch (Betula pendula), the Hornbeam tree (Carpinus
betulus) as well as the Common Hazel (Corylus avellana), the Cornelian Cherry
Dogwood (Cornus mas), the Common Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea), the
Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) etc. The coniferous forest zone is represented
by the European Silver Fir (Abies alba), the European Spruce (Picea abies), the
Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris), the Swiss Stone Pine (Pinuscembra), the English
Yew (Taxus baccata), the Juniper (Juniperus communis), the European Larch
(Larix decidua ssp. polonica) etc.

▪ The Souvenir Shop of the Botanical Garden

The Souvenir Shop was officially opened on the 1st of June 2016 at the initiative
of Team Work. The shop was the missing component of the Botanical Garden’s
landscape. The shop also has a social implication since it offers part-time jobs to
students and in time it will become the financial supporter for the volunteering
activities organised by Team Work. On top of that, the shop encourages local
entrepreneurship and works as a creative outlet, nurturing the artistic endeavours
of local artisans, handmade artists and original creators. The participants of the
Great Shorts Up Picnic have a 20% sale to all Souvenir Shop acquisitions.

▪ The Systematic Sector and the Waterfall

The Systematic Sector is the biggest sector of the Botanical Garden, covering
almost a quarter of the 17 hectares surface. It was given this name due to the
fact that plants are organized according to their evolution, starting from ferns to
complex forms such as angiosperms, from the monocotyledons to the
dicotyledons. The Systemic Sector is more unkempt because it represents the
ecosystem of a rich fauna that dwells in the garden: birds (i.e. pheasants and
woodpeckers), fish, ducks, turtles etc. The fauna is mostly visible in the area of
the waterfall, where turtles can be sighted basking in the warm shallows, on
sunny days. Also, the roots of the trees from the swamp area can be seen at the
surface, which enable the trees “to breathe”.

• The Coniferous Hillock

The Coniferous Hillock altogether with the Waterfall constitute the most popular
sightseeing corner in all the Botanical Garden. The sector comprises both the
native coniferous trees as well as the foreign ones such as the Bald Cypress
(Taxodium distichum) whose origins can be traced back to Northern America,
which was acclimatized well in the Botanical Garden. The waterfall is the
keystone to the sector’s entire architecture. Its water provides the necessary
humidity to the atmosphere,while also filling up the deep lake at the bottom of the
waterfall. The lake is elaborately adorned with waterlilies and clusters from the
Cypress trees. As mentioned before, the Cypress trees were conferred
“respiratory roots” (Rom. “pneumatofori”) of considerable sizes, which are
reflected in the mirror-like glaze of the lake.

• The Magnolias’ Alley

The newest addition to the garden’s structure, the Magnolias’ Alley is part of a
more complex project of maintenance for the Systemic Sector which came to
fruition through the efforts of the Team Work Association and Telekom
Foundation. In September 2015 began the annual springtime and fall cleanings
in the Botanical Garden, respecting the natural rhythm of the garden and without
using herbicides. During the spring of 2018, 10 magnolia trees were planted
along the alley that connects the Carpathian Mountains sector and the Souvenir
Shop to the centre of the Systemic Sector. In the future, the alley will be provided
with benches, bins as well as two benches with WiFi connection. Those who’d
like to partake in the volunteering activities concerning the maintenance of the
alley may enrol on the Facebook page Team Work — Voluntariat la Gradina
Botanica. The alley’s inauguration is scheduled in 2018, in the spring.
▪ The Greenhouses

The Greenhouses showcase the plethora of flora from all over the world. The
special conditions of humidity and temperature stability facilitate the growth and
preservation of these diverse plants. The eight compartments shelter collections
of plants grouped according to their ecological and environmental conditions: the
palm trees collection, the ficus collection, the philodendrons, the orchids, the
subtropical plants, the tropical water plants and wet climate plants, succulent
plants, cacti, bromeliads etc.

▪ The Rosarium

The Rosarium is a sector dedicated to the beauty and splendour of roses. Their
colours and many shapes and sizes fascinate all those who stroll in the garden.
Their wafting scent and lasting fragrance beckons all visitors into a dazzling
world. The Rosarium covers 0.7 hectares and was given a makeover starting
with 1976. Currently there are 130 different types of roses, differentiated by their
height (tall, medium or short), the number of their buds or elongations (solitary
roses or abundant roses i.e. “Floribunda”), with a large palette of shades (‘Super
Star’,‘Rapsody in Blue’, ‘Abraham Darby’, ‘Brandenburg’, ‘Kronenburg’, ‘Maria
Callas’, ‘Campfire’, ‘Chrysler Imperial’, ‘Lady in Mauve, ‘Queen Elisabeth’ etc.) or
monochrome. Whether arranged in bundles or grouped according to their colour
contrast, these plants gladden the eyes of every person who stops to admire
their beauty which lasts from the beginning of summer until the end of autumn.

▪ The Decorative Sector

The Decorative Sector is situated at the entrance of the Botanical Garden,

covering 5000 square meters and was inaugurated in 1956. Its role is to maintain
throughout the entire year a scenery rich in diversity and the varied spectrum of
colours of the flowers and leaves. In total there are 500 species of woody and
herbaceous plants, cultivated in big groups or on extended pastures. This natural
background enthrals every passer-by with no exception. Some pinpoints are:
Actinidia sp., Liriodendron tulipifera, Circis siliquastrum, Calicanthus sp., Fritillaria
sp., the Tulipa collection, the Sage collection, sp. de Paeonia sp. as well as other
annual, biannual or perennial plants.

▪ The Ginkgo Biloba Tree

The Pagoda’s Tree (Lat. Ginkgo biloba) is a species of dioecious tree (they can
be of only one gender: male or female) which was widespread in the entire
northern hemisphere during the Jurassic. Nowadays, it is mostly found in the
small region of S-E China. It is popularly known as “the Four Coins”, “the
Japanese Templar” and “the Silver Apricot” tree. Priorly it was introduced to the
European continent by the Netherlands in 1730. Nowadays it is cultivated in
parks, alleys and botanical gardens for its alluring aspect and therapeutical
purposes. This “true fossil” has,as of late, become one of the most important
medicinal plants, being introduced in extended cultures in order for its leaves to
be harvested.

The trees within 30 meters high have a very rich crown. Their leaves have a
unique shape and structure: petiole-like, bilobed and with an interior dichotomy.
In autumn, their leaves turn yellow and fall (caducous leaves). Thus, the
autumnal scenery becomes saturated in an inherent yellow, suffused in golden
light. The seed of the Ginkgo biloba is very rock-like, veiled in a thick vegetal
matter. The pulp of the fruit emanates a bad smell because of the acid within.
The smell is somewhat similar to butter gone bad.

• The Italian Garden

The Italian Garden sector, which is organized in geometrical configurations, is

situated in the vicinity of the Botanical Institute, between two alleys with chestnut
trees and plane trees, with spindle (Euonymus fortunei var. radicans) on the
margins. The sector exhibits a floor level lawn, in a rectangle shape with rounded
extremities. In the very center of the Italian garden there is a rectangular basin
surrounded by Common Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens), an evergreen shrub.
The basin allows other aquatic species to develop in the area (Ceratophyllum
demersum, Potamogeton sp., Nymphaea alba, Alisma plantago-aquatica), as
well as swamp species (Butomus umbellatus, Iris pseudacorus, Lythrum
salicaria, Typha angustifolia, Sparganium ramosum, Mentha aquatica etc.) The
area is famous for its elegance, making visitors succumb to the soothing balm of
nature.

The model of the Italian Garden appeared first and foremost in Florence (Gradina
all’italiana). It was conceptualised by Leon Battista Albertini in the 15th century.
His suggestion was that gardens and villas should be built on hills so that they’d
be exposed to more sunlight and that the owners would have a wider panorama,
especially while climbing the hill. He emphasizes the importance of living fences,
of perennial species with lasting leaves, with fragrant flowers, stone vases,
fountains and basins surrounded by flowers and statues.