The Giardino Botanico Litoraneo di Porto Caleri (nearly 23 hectares), also known as the Giardino Botanico Litoraneo del Veneto, is a nature preserve and botanical garden

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...

 located on Via Porto Caleri, Rosolina Mare, Rosolina

Rosolina

Rosolina is a comune in the Province of Rovigo in the Italian region Veneto, located about 40 km south of Venice and about 35 km east of Rovigo...

, Province of Rovigo

Province of Rovigo

The Province of Rovigo is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Rovigo.It borders on the north with the provinces of Verona, Padua and Venice, on the south with the province of Ferrara, on the west with the province of Mantua, and on the eastwith the Adriatic Sea.-...

, Veneto

Veneto

Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It is open several days a week in the warmer months.

The garden was established in 1990, and operated by the Servizio Forestale Regionale di Padova e Rovigo in collaboration with the University of Padua

University of Padua

The University of Padua is a premier Italian university located in the city of Padua, Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second...

. It consists of a thin strip of sand dunes between the mouth of the river Adige

Adige

The Adige is a river with its source in the Alpine province of South Tyrol near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland. At in length, it is the second longest river in Italy, after the River Po with ....

 and the Po di Levante, containing indigenous vegetation of loose sand, salt marsh

Salt marsh

A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...

, and pine

Pine

Pines 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:...

 and elm

Elm

Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...

 forests. All told, it contains a dozen ecosystems with about 220 plant species

Species

In 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...

, perhaps most notably native orchids. Three footpaths (600 meters, 1650 meters, and 2850 meters in length) allow close observation of the environment.

The garden's species include Agropyretum juncei, Agropyron junceum, Ambrosia maritima, Ammophila littoralis, Ammophiletum arenariae, Artemisia coerulescens, Arthrocnemum fruticosum, Aster tripolium

Aster tripolium

Aster tripolium is a plant of northern Europe that is confined in its distribution to salt marshes, estuaries and occasionally to inland salt works....

, Cakile marittima, Calystegia soldanella

Calystegia soldanella

The morning glory Calystegia soldanella is a species of bindweed known by the common names seashore false bindweed and beach morning glory...

, Centaurea tommasinii, Cephalantera, Cladium mariscus

Cladium mariscus

Cladium mariscus is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common name Saw-sedge or Sawtooth Sedge. It is native of temperate Europe and Asia where it grows in base-rich boggy areas and lakesides. It can be up to 2.5 metres tall, and has leaves with hard serrated edges....

, Conyza canadensis

Conyza canadensis

Conyza canadensis is an annual plant native throughout most of North America and Central America. Common names include Horseweed, Canadian Horseweed, Canadian Fleabane, Coltstail, Marestail and Butterweed.It is an annual plant growing to 1.5 m tall, with sparsely hairy stems...

, Cycloloma atriplicifolia, Cynodon dactylon

Cynodon dactylon

Cynodon dactylon , also known as Dūrvā Grass, Bermuda Grass, Dubo, Dog's Tooth Grass, Bahama Grass, Devil's Grass, Couch Grass, Indian Doab, Arugampul, Grama, and Scutch Grass, is a grass native to north and east Africa, Asia and Australia and southern Europe...

, Cyperus kalli, Echinophoro spinosae, Enteromorpha

Enteromorpha

Enteromorpha is an outdated sea-plant taxon. Genetic analysis has resulted in the genus Enteromorpha being merged with the genus Ulva, commonly known as Sea lettuce....

, Erianthus ravennae, Eryngium maritimum, Frangula alnus, Halimione portulacoides

Halimione portulacoides

Halimione portulacoides or sea purslane is a small greyish-green shrub widely distributed in temperate Eurasia and parts of Africa. A halophyte, it is found in salt marshes and coastal dunes, and is usually flooded at high tide....

, Hippophae rhamnoides

Hippophae rhamnoides

Hippophae rhamnoides, the common sea-buckthorn, is a deciduous shrub species in the genus Hippophae.Common Sea-buckthorn branches are dense, stiff, and very thorny. The leaves are a distinct pale silvery-green, lanceolate, 3-8 cm long and less than 7 mm broad. It is dioecious, with male and female...

, Juniperus communis

Juniperus communis

Juniperus communis, the Common Juniper, is a species in the genus Juniperus, in the family Cupressaceae. It has the largest range of any woody plant, throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic south in mountains to around 30°N latitude in North America, Europe and Asia.-...

, Limonium serotinum, Oenothera biennis

Oenothera biennis

Oenothera biennis is a species of Oenothera native to eastern and central North America, from Newfoundland west to Alberta, southeast to Florida, and southwest to Texas, and widely naturalized elsewhere in temperate and subtropical regions.-Growth and flowering:Oenorthera biennis has a life span...

, Ophrys sphecodes, Orchis morio, Phillyrea

Phillyrea

Phillyrea is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, the Canary Islands and Madeira....

, Phragmites australis, Pinus pinaster, Pinus pinea, Puccinellia palustris, Quercus ilex, Scabiosa argentea, Schoenus

Schoenus (plant)

Schoenus is a genus of sedges. Plants of this genus mainly occur in Australasia.Species include:*Schoenus acuminatus*Schoenus andrewsii*Schoenus armeria*Schoenus badius*Schoenus benthamii*Schoenus capillifolius...

 nigricans

Schoenus nigricans

Schoenus nigricans is a species of sedge known by the common name black bogrush. It is native to Eurasia, parts of Africa, Australia, and southern North America, including Mexico and the southernmost United States. It grows in many types of wetlands and other moist and alkaline habitat, including...

, Typha

Typha

Typha is a genus of about eleven species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. The genus has a largely Northern Hemisphere distribution, but is essentially cosmopolitan, being found in a variety of wetland habitats...

, Ulmus minor, Ulva

Ulva

Ulva is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, off the west coast of Mull. It is separated from Mull by a narrow strait, and connected to the neighbouring island of Gometra by a bridge. Much of the island is formed from Tertiary basalt rocks, which is formed into columns in places.Ulva has...

, Vulpia membranacea, Xanthium italicum, and Zosteretum noltii.