Kunming Botanical Garden | |
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Type | Botanical garden |
Location | Kunming, China |
Coordinates | 25°08′24″N 102°44′20″E / 25.14000°N 102.73889°E |
Operated by | Chinese Academy of Sciences |
Website | http://english.kib.cas.cn/ |
Kunming Institute of Botany, or KIB (Chinese: 昆明植物研究所; pinyin: Kūnmíng Zhíwù Yánjiūsuǒ), founded in 1938, is a research institution in the field of Botany, which is located in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, China.
The Institute is one of the major herbariums in China and maintains a collection of over one plant specimens. There are also over 200,000 specimens of fungi, lichens, and mosses, many of which were donated by mycologist Mu Zang.[1]
The Institute also has a botanical garden. Currently there are around 5,000 species of vascular plants in the botanical garden. There are several sections, with specific collections, such as:
All the plants that are hosted in the botanical garden are a foundation on which to work, for the research and experience of the staff of scientists at the Institute. Studies are conducted to improve the cultivation of plants of economic interest, with a view to better use, both nutritionally and industrially. Currently a digital database of the botanical garden is being prepared, as well as of wild plants in the province of Yunnan.
In 1984, the institute exchanged seeds with Algeria, among the seeds received were Jacaranda. These were grown into mature trees in the botanical garden and later used to plant Jacaranda trees along many streets in Kunming.[2][3]