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Araucaria araucana © S. Gerbault - MNHN

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A co-edition of the National Museum of Natural History and Rouergue editions.

Arboretum de Versailles-Chèvreloup

Éditions du Rouergue / Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, novembre 2017
192 pages - Hardcover - 19,5 x 25,5 cm
25 €
ISBN : 978-2-8126-1446-0

Bordering the park of the Versailles and Trianon palaces, the Versailles-Chèvreloup Arboretum is a haven where time passes at the trees’ rhythm. Comprising nearly 200 hectares, it assembles more than 2,000 species from all over the world. Connected to the Versailles estate since Louis XIV, it has seen a succession of architects and gardeners who have all fashioned this unique botanical park since it was allocated to the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle. A veritable museum of the living tree, today it constitutes one of the richest collections of trees in continental Europe.

If its vocation is to present trees, the Arboretum is also a place of research and experimentation, containing greenhouses of 6,000 m² accessible only to specialists and professionals. Not only designed as a description of remarkable species illustrated by their flowerings and metamorphoses with the seasons, this book reveals secret collections, including many protected plants that are threatened with extinction. It constitutes a visual journey to discover the world’s trees and this singular site, which is dedicated to the indispensable preservation of biodiversity.

  • 200 photographs.
  • An iconography enriched with precious documents from the archives of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle.
  • A rich site containing exhaustive collections of certain genera and species that are a botanical reference going far beyond the local context.
  • Reference texts signed by reputed specialists.
Couverture du livre Arboretum Versailles-Chèvreloup © MNHN

 

The authors:

Frédéric Achille is the scientific director of the outdoor plant collections of the botanical gardens at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle.
Snezana Gerbault, an agricultural engineer, is an author and photographer specialising in the environment.
Gabriela Lamy is a research officer at the Trianon Gardens Service, Palace of Versailles.

Foreword by Bruno David, President of the National Museum of Natural History

Order

On sale at the Versailles-Chèvreloup Arboretum boutique and the Muséum Boutique (Grande Galerie de l’Évolution, 36 rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire – Paris 5, open daily, except Tuesday, 10 am—6 pm)