Editing Botanical garden (section)

=== Role and functions ===

All botanical gardens have their own special interests. In a paper on the role of botanical gardens, [[Ferdinand von Mueller]] (1825–1896), the director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne (1852–1873), stated, "in all cases the objects [of a botanical garden] must be mainly scientific and predominantly instructive".<ref name="Mueller 1871"/> He detailed many of the objectives being pursued by the world's botanical gardens in the middle of the 19th century, when European gardens were at their height. Many of these are listed below to give a sense of the scope of botanical gardens' activities at that time, and the ways in which they differed from parks or what he called "public [[pleasure garden]]s":<ref name="Mueller 1871">{{harvnb|Mueller|1871}}</ref>

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* availability of plants for scientific research
* display of plant diversity in form and use
* display of plants of particular regions (including local)
* plants sometimes grown within their particular families
* plants grown for their seed or rarity
* major timber ([[List of American words not widely used in the United Kingdom#L|American English]]: ''lumber'') trees
* plants of economic significance
* glasshouse plants of different climates
* all plants accurately labelled
* records kept of plants and their performance
* catalogues of holdings published periodically
* research facilities utilising the living collections
* studies in plant taxonomy
* examples of different vegetation types
* student education
* a herbarium
* selection and introduction of ornamental and other plants to commerce
* studies of plant chemistry ([[phytochemistry]])
* report on the effects of plants on livestock
* at least one collector maintained doing [[field work]]
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Botanical gardens have always responded to the interests and values of the day. If a single function were to be chosen from the early literature on botanical gardens, it would be their scientific endeavour and, flowing from this, their instructional value. In their formative years, botanical gardens were gardens for physicians and botanists, but they became more associated with ornamental horticulture and the needs of the general public. The scientific reputation of a botanical garden is judged by the publications coming out of herbaria and similar facilities, not by its living collections.<ref>{{Harvnb|Heywood|1987|p=16}}</ref> Their focus has been on creating an awareness of the threat to the [[Human impact on the environment|Earth's ecosystems from human populations]] and its consequent need for biological and physical resources. Botanical gardens provide an excellent medium for communication between the world of botanical science and the general public. Education programs can help the public develop greater [[environmental awareness]] by understanding the meaning and importance of ideas like conservation and sustainability.<ref>{{Harvnb|Drayton|2000|pp=269–274}}</ref>