The Orto Botanico Forestale dell'Abetone (1.4 hectares) is a 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 in Fontana Vaccaia, Abetone

Abetone

Abetone is a comune in the Province of Pistoia in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 80 km northwest of Florence and about 49 km northwest of Pistoia...

, Province of Pistoia

Province of Pistoia

The Province of Pistoia is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Pistoia. It has an area of 965 km², and a total population of 268,503 . There are 22 communes in the province .-External links:...

, Tuscany

Tuscany

Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

, 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...

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It is open daily in the warmer months. The garden was inaugurated in 1987, and currently managed by a consortium formed of the Tuscany Region, State Forestry Corps, Mountain Community dell'Appennino Pistoiese, and the Universities of Florence, Pisa and Siena.

It contains about 300 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...

 native to the northern Apennine Mountains

Apennine mountains

The Apennines or Apennine Mountains or Greek oros but just as often used alone as a noun. The ancient Greeks and Romans typically but not always used "mountain" in the singular to mean one or a range; thus, "the Apennine mountain" refers to the entire chain and is translated "the Apennine...

, including blueberry

Blueberry

Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...

, gentian

Gentian

Gentiana is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Gentian family , tribe Gentianeae and monophyletic subtribe Gentianinae. With about 400 species, it is considered a large genus.-Habitat:...

, saxifrage

Saxifrage

Saxifraga is the largest genus in the family Saxifragaceae, containing about 440 species of Holarctic perennial plants, known as saxifrages. The Latin word saxifraga means literally "stone-breaker", from Latin + ...

, lily, moss

Moss

Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...

 and lichen

Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...

, orchid, primrose

Primrose

-Botany:* Primulaceae, a family of flowering plants* Primula vulgaris, commonly known as the Primrose * Oenothera, commonly known as Evening Primrose, a plant genus...

, as well as fir

Fir

Firs are a genus of 48–55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range...

, beech

Beech

Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...

, birch

Birch

Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...

, spruce

Spruce

A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...

, and willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

. Species of interest include Abies alba, Caltha palustris

Caltha palustris

Caltha palustris is a herbaceous perennial plant of the buttercup family, native to marshes, fens, ditches and wet woodland in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....

, Fagus sylvatica, Gentiana asclepiadea

Gentiana asclepiadea

Gentiana asclepiadea is a species of the genus Gentiana. It is native to central and eastern Europe from primarily mountain woodland though it does occur in less wooded open pasture in some areas, perhaps persisting after woodland clearance.One of the larger species within the genus, it produces...

, Gentiana kochiana, Gentiana purpurea

Gentiana purpurea

Gentiana purpurea is a plant of genus Gentiana. Flowers July to August . The root is sometimes used in the manufacture of gentian bitters- External links :*....

, Gentiana verna, Laburnum anagyroides

Laburnum anagyroides

Laburnum anagyroides is a species of small deciduous trees or large shrubs up to 7 m tall in the genus Laburnum, native to Central and Southern Europe. It is a popular ornamental plant, along with the other species in the genus, L. alpinum, and especially the hybrid between them, L. × watereri. L...

, Sorbus aucuparia

Sorbus aucuparia

Sorbus aucuparia , is a species of the genus Sorbus, native to most of Europe except for the far south, and northern Asia...

, Picea abies, Pinguicula leptoceras, and Viola palustris

Viola palustris

Viola palustris is a perennial forb of the genus Viola. It inhabits moist meadows, marshes, and streambanks in northern parts of North America and Eurasia....

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