Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier, France

Following the steps of Jacques Huber, we visited the Jardin des Plantes in Montpellier, southern France, in early June. Huber lived in Montpellier from 1890 to 1893, where he attended classes at the local university. He witnessed the foundation of the Institute of Botany by Charles Flahault (1852-1935) in 1890, and later worked as his research assistant. The Institute of Botany was built next to the Jardin des Plantes and since then have shared its space. Huber left Montpellier after finishing his Doctoral Thesis in 1893. He moved to Geneva, Switzerland, in the same year.

The 'Jardin du Roy' was founded by Pierre Richer de Belleval (c. 1564-1632) in 1593 to serve the education of physicians and pharmacists. It is still possible to appreciate the ruins of that first garden, one of the oldest in Europe (please, see the pictures bellow). The garden keeps a great collection of plants, especially from the Mediterranean region. Currently, the garden is still maintained by the Faculty of Medicine, University of Montpellier I in association with the city of Montpellier.

To know more about the Jardin des Plantes and the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Montpellier 2, to which the Institute of Botany is now linked, we suggest the following books:

ROSSI, Michel (Ed.), 2013. De la médicine à la botanique: le Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier. Versailles, Éditions Quae. (twelve chapters by different authors, with excellent pictures of Jonathan Lhoir).

GOMEL, Luc (Ed.), 2014. De la faculté des sciences à l'Université Montpellier 2: les sciences et techniques en mouvement. Montpellier, UM2. (written by Noémie Aumasson-Miralles, Flore César and Nicolas Chevassus-au-Louis).

 

 

 

Huge diversity of forms, colours, textures, and perfumes: 
the Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier in spring!