,+from+Orlers+(1614)..jpg)
The Hortus Botanicus in Leiden was established soon after the founding of the university in 1575. The head of the early garden there was Charles de l’Ecluse or Clusius (1526–1609) , who had a wide network of correspondents across Europe & had written extensively on botanical subjects. In 1593, he brought with him from Frankfurt a great number of seeds, bulbs & plants to form the foundation of the garden, which had about 1,000 plants when it opened. Other distinguished botanists associated with the garden were Herman Boerhaave (1668–1738) & Johannes Fredericus Gronovius (1686–1762), an early patron of Carolus Linnaeus(Carl Linnaeus, Swedish Carl von Linné) 1707-1778, who would transform plant collecting with his uniform system for classifying them (binomial nomenclature).
In 1587, the young University of Leiden asked for permission from the mayor of Leiden to establish a hortus academicus behind the university building, for the benefit of the medical students. The request was granted in 1590, and the famous botanist Carolus Clusius was appointed as prefect. Clusius arrived in Leiden in 1593. His knowledge, reputation, & international contacts allowed him to set up a very extensive plant collection. Clusius also urged the Dutch East India Company to collect plants and dried plant specimens in the colonies. The original garden set up by Clusius was small (about 35 by 40 meters), but contained more than 1000 different plants.
The collecting of tropical (from the Indies) and sub-tropical (from the Cape Colony) plants was continued under Clusius' successors. Especially Herman Boerhaave (1668–1738, prefect from 1709–1730), contributed greatly to the fame of the Hortus with his efforts to collect new plants & specimens, and with his publications, such as a catalog of the plants then to be found in the Hortus.
Another major contribution to the collections was made by Philipp Franz von Siebold, a German physician who was employed on Deshima (Japan) by the Dutch East India Company from 1823 until his expulsion by Japan in 1829. During that period he collected many dried & living plants from all over Japan (as well as animals, ethnographical objects, maps, etc.), & sent them to Leiden.
The 1st greenhouses appeared in the Hortus in the 2nd half of the 17C, the monumental Orangery was built between 1740-44. From its original plan the Hortus was expanded in 1736 by Adriaan van Royen & Carl Linnaeus.
 |
In 1817, the facility was again expanded by Theodor Friedrich Ludwig Nees von Esenbeck & Sebald Justinus Brugmans. In 1857, a part was used for building the new Leiden Observatory.
