Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria
Aerial view of Melbourne Gardens
Type	Botanic Garden
Location	Melbourne, Australia
Area	38 hectares
Opened	1846
Operated by	Board of the Royal Botanic Gardens
Visitors	1 million (approx. per year)
Vegetation	Australian Native, Lawns, Non-native traditional gardens
Connecting transport	Train, Tram, Bus, Car
Facilities	Information centre, Gift shop, Toilets, Barbecues, Shelter, Cafes
Website	rbg.vic.gov.au

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria are botanic gardens across two sites - Melbourne and Cranbourne.

Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land was reserved on the south side of the Yarra River for a new botanic garden. It extends across 36 hectares (89 acres) that slope to the river with trees, garden beds, lakes and lawns. It displays almost 50,000 individual plants representing 8,500 different species. These are displayed in 30 living plant collections.

Cranbourne Gardens was established in 1970 when land was acquired by the Gardens on Melbourne’s south-eastern urban fringe for the purpose of establishing a garden dedicated to Australian plants. A generally wild site that’s significant for biodiversity conservation, it opened to the public in 1989.

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria is home to the State Botanical Collection which is housed in the National Herbarium of Victoria, including 1.5 million preserved plants, algae and fungi, and Australia’s most comprehensive botanical library.

The gardens are governed under the Royal Botanic Gardens Act 1991 by the Royal Botanic Gardens Board, who are responsible to the Minister for Environment.

In 1846 Charles La Trobe selected the site for the Royal Botanic Gardens from marshland and swamp.

In 1857 the first director was Ferdinand von Mueller, who created the National Herbarium of Victoria and brought in many plants.

In 1873 William Guilfoyle became Director and changed the style of the Gardens to something more like the picturesque gardens that were around at that time. He added tropical and temperate plants.

In 1877 Sir Edmund Barton, Australia's first Prime Minister and Jane Ross were married at the Royal Botanic Gardens.

In 1924 a shooting massacre occurred at the Gardens resulting in the death of four people.

In June 2015 the Gardens brought together the elements of the organisation under the name Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, incorporating Melbourne Gardens, Cranbourne Gardens, the National Herbarium of Victoria and the Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology (ARCUE)