The Orto Botanico dell'Università di Lecce (2 hectares), also known as the Orto Botanico di Lecce, 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...

 operated by the University of Lecce

University of Lecce

The University of Salento is a university located in Lecce, Italy. It was founded in 1955 and is organized in 10 Faculties.The University of Salento commenced activities in the academic year 1955-56 under the “Salentine University Council”...

 and located at Via Provinciale Lecce-Monteroni, 73100, Lecce

Lecce

Lecce is a historic city of 95,200 inhabitants in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Lecce, the second province in the region by population, as well as one of the most important cities of Puglia...

, Apulia

Apulia

Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...

, 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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Although Lecce's earliest botanical garden dates to 1814, it began an irreversible decline in 1866 after its acquisition by the province, and today's garden is a separate undertaking begun in 1994 by the university's biology department. It currently contains several hundred 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...

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