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De Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam

De Hortus is in verband met maatregelen omtrent het coronavirus gesloten.
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De Hortus is in verband met maatregelen omtrent het coronavirus tijdelijk gesloten

hortusamsterdam

The Hortus in Amsterdam is one of the oldest botanic gardens in Europe. A green oasis in the middle of the city. #hortusamsterdam

It's Magnolia season! Maybe you're lucky to see on

It's Magnolia season! Maybe you're lucky to see one from your window, or take a good look around you during your afternoon stroll: Everywhere around you will see the magnificent Magnolia flowers appear. ⁠
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Did you know the Magnolias we see today are prehistoric plants? Fossils have revealed that Magnolia plants existed at least 95 million years ago. ⁠Appearing before the bees did, the flowers have evolved to encourage pollination by beetles.⁠
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Because we can't get enough of this plant, we will share a lot of Magnolia love with you this week! Stay tuned 💗

5/5 ⁠⠀ Around 1753, Carl Linneaus introduced t

5/5 ⁠⠀
Around 1753, Carl Linneaus introduced the Binomial nomenclature or a two-term naming system for all life on earth. A name composed of two parts: a genus name and a species name. Making it easier to categorise living things and to share information about them. Like, we are part of the Homo genus and we're the sapiens species: Homo sapiens.⁠⠀
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In pre-Linnean times there was no uniform naming for animals and plants. They had a local name, which of course differed per country or even region. Scientists would often derive words from Latin and Greek, whereas locals would use dialect words. Names would often describe the plant, the colors of the flowers, the smell or even the way it was used as a medicine or food. ⁠⠀
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Like this little wallflower (now flowering in our medicinal garden). The sign shows the pre Linnean name (seen after the word Snippendaal), being long and using words like luteo (meaning yellow) or holosericeo (meaning 'completely silky haired'). Its Linnean name became Erysimum cheiri, given it a place in the system. #thuisinams

Another very quiet Sunday afternoon in the Hortus.

Another very quiet Sunday afternoon in the Hortus.. ⁠
Although this #emptyhortus is something we can hardly get used to, our Palm Greenhouse looks beautifully calm and peaceful on this image by @ninooou #sundayshare. ⁠
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Thanks for supporting us and we hope to see you again soon! 💚🌿

Hortus on your mind? 🌱🌱With one fifth of the

Hortus on your mind? 🌱🌱With one fifth of the world spending days at home, in weird circumstances, we find time to meet creativity. 🌱🌱 we’d love to see your #inspiredbyhortus creations. Like the embroidered beauties by @gisellequinto 💚💚

Our only frequent visitor who is still allowed to

Our only frequent visitor who is still allowed to visit the Hortus every day: Carrabas the neighborhood cat. On her daily route around the garden, she certainly wonders where all her friends have suddenly gone.. ⁠
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Have you ever spotted Carrabas in the garden or in the greenhouses during your visit? Let's hope to reunite soon! 😍📸 @ccaecilia

⁠ ⁠Euphorbia characias, or the Mediterranean s

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⁠Euphorbia characias, or the Mediterranean spurge, is another one of our medicinal Snippendaal plants. Euphorbia very large and diverse genus of flowering plants of over 2300 species. Although sometimes different in looks, all genus members share the infamous feature of having a poisonous, milky, white, latex-like sap.⁠
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In earlier centuries, this Euphorbian milk juice was also used to cure tuberculosis patients. Not until long ago, dried milk juice was still used in pharmacies under the name eu-phorbium.⁠
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Other uses for this toxic milky sap have been to treat skin excrescences, like cancers, tumors, and warts.⁠
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Spending time in nature is good for you, fresh air

Spending time in nature is good for you, fresh air is healthy, a walk during your lunch break makes you more creative.⁠
Is that all really true?⁠
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🌿 Nature has beneficial effects on our body, our mind, our well-being. These effects are not only caused by the outdoor activity, but also by the way we process the information of the color green. ⁠
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Although we are more or less bound to our homes nowadays, we do not need large forests to get our botanical boosts. Experiments show, that even looking at a small patch of green between street tiles, or the tree through your window or even the green house mates in your room, can reduce your stress level. Please treat yourself to a regular 5 minutes of green. ⁠
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Scientific journalist Maartje Kouwen and author of the book 'Nature moments' Jocelyn de Kwant talk about this in episode #19 of our podcast. You can find the podcast (in Dutch) via link in bio. #podplanten⁠ #thuisinams⁠

4/5 When Johannes Snippendaal, in 1646, described

4/5 When Johannes Snippendaal, in 1646, described the entire plant collection, he wrote the first complete catalogue of the Hortus Medicus. ⁠⠀
Nowadays, there are only two original copies of the Snippendaal catalog. One is in the British Library in London. The other copy is in the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel, Germany. The Snippendaal catalog was written in pre-Linnean times. which meant Snippendaal used the long, descriptive, pre-Linnean plant names. ⁠⠀
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In 2007, the Hortus started a unique project. It aimed to bring back the original medicinal collection in the garden. Scientists and board members voluntarily translated Snippendaal’s catalogue into Linnean names . A tough job, as it there was no translation guide. The Hortus designed a garden that reflected the 17th centurygarden style of long, straight beds. The plants in the Snippendaal Garden are the exact same species that were cultivated in the Hortus Medicus in 1646. 🌱

Asparagus has been used as a vegetable since ancie

Asparagus has been used as a vegetable since ancient times. Egyptian drawings showing it as an offering dating 3000 BC. Asparagus is also part of our medicinal garden for its usage as laxative and diuretic.⁠
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The seeds of asparagus are black and grow in red little berries.

We do miss you all, our dear visitors 😥 But it

We do miss you all, our dear visitors 😥 But it is best to #stayhome these days. The national government issued an extra warning today. Don’t go out for walks to busy places. 😟We will take care of our collection and we will wait for you. #staysafe and take care for others. 💚💚💚

Without our visitors, the garden looks a bit empty

Without our visitors, the garden looks a bit empty. Fortunately, there are a lot of animals and insects that can still enjoy the plants every day. Our tropical butterflies frolic around the Butterfly Greenhouse everyday, enjoying the calm times.⁠
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Thank you for sharing @dorylas_wild 🦋⁠
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We wish you all a happy and healthy Sunday. Give yourself (and others) some space, relax and keep your health system strong. #sundayshare💚

Once a month the Hortus organises a guided tour th

Once a month the Hortus organises a guided tour that focuses on one special theme. Today, the tour was supposed to be all about spring flowers.⁠⠀
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The tour of course will not take place due to the current situation, but we would like to highlight some of these colorful plants anyway.⁠⠀
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💚 Nieskruid or 'sneeze herb' is the Dutch word for Helleborus. Other common names often refer to roses, although the Helleborus is not related to the rose family. In early spring, our garden is fulled with flowering species like this H. argutifolius. ⁠⠀
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💚 The little blue beauty Muscari Armeniacum is originally from the Eastern Mediterranean, but probably you've also seen it flower in your neighbourhood?⁠⠀
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💚 Most of the spring flowers we see in our gardens originate from South Eastern Europe. The first crocus corms arrived in the Netherlands in 1560s. They came from Constantinople. The Flemish Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, an ambassador to the Ottoman empire, donated the corms to Carolus Clusius at the botanical garden in Leiden.⁠⠀

While you all #stayathome we'll try to bring the H

While you all #stayathome we'll try to bring the Hortus inside your homes. So you can still get your daily 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘵. 🌿💚⁠
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This weekend is a perfect time to give your houseplants some extra TLC. Or to get your balcony / backyard (if you have one;) spring ready! ⁠
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Our gardener and plant doctor Peter is online this week to give you some tips & tricks. Do you have a sad looking Cactus standing on the windowsill? Little bugs crawling around your plants? Or are you curious to learn the name of a certain weed that is growing in your garden? ⁠
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Send us a message with your question and a picture of the plant and we will get back to you as soon as possible with an answer!

3/5 Being a Hortus medicus in the 17th century, th

3/5 Being a Hortus medicus in the 17th century, the garden collection existed of preliminary medicinal and -of course- local herbs. Boiled leaves, root extracts and dried flowers were used to treat coughs, pains, infections, fevers and bleedings. In 1646, Johannes Snippendaal was appointed as prefect (director) of the Hortus Medicus in Amsterdam. In that same year he managed to catalogue the entire collection of the Hortus. By the end, he counted 796 different plant species, the majority of which were medicinal plants, but also ornamental plants were included. By making this list, he wrote the first catalogue of the Hortus Medicus Amsterdam. This first collection can still be seen in our garden. Based on the list, we’ve created the Snippendaal garden containing 17th century medicinal plants. Like the Primula vulgaris, the common primrose. Tea was made from the flowers to treat colds and associated chest pains. To soothe probably, not to cure.. 🌱🌱🌱

An #emptyhortus is not something we’re gonna get

An #emptyhortus is not something we’re gonna get used to. Anyways, let’s continue our story..
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🌱 2/5 With the foundation of a medicinal garden, the city wasn’t immediately safe from the plague. It took a few more heavy episodes like the one in the 1663-1664, which even resulted in a closure of the city theatre - and not opening it again until 1666!
Back then, the Hortus was located in downtown Amsterdam. The Amstel river was more or less a border to the wider fields around the city. Dead toll was high during the plague and burial grounds were created outside the city, across the river. Poor man’s graveyards around the city buried numerous bodies without tombstones. The Saint Antonieskerkhof was one of those graveyards, located in the swampy area east to the city.
About 50 years into existence (1683), the Hortus was relocated to the upcoming Plantage area. Guess what, right next to the graveyard filled with plague victims for whom the garden was founded and aimed to heal. If only.. If you walk to the bridge on the far end of our garden and you look over to the other side, you’ll see our nursery greenhouses, built on the remnants of the St Antonies graveyard.
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🌱 Curious to learn more about St Antonies? Listen to our podcast episode #6 Hortus Medicus (in Dutch) via link in bio.

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