Giardino Montano dell' Orecchiella

The Giardino Montano dell' Orecchiella is a nature preserve and botanical garden located at about 1370 meters altitude in Parco dell'Orecchiella (178 hectares) near Orecchiella, north of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, Province of Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. It is open daily in the warmer months.

The garden was established in 1986 within the Parco dell'Orecchiella, and contains flowers and plants typical of mountain environments. It also contains a number of karst caves located in the municipalities of Sillano and Collemandina Villa; a total of 31 caves have been located with lengths between 35 and 1120 m. The forest is mainly coniferous with beech groves, as well as "Acer pseudoplatanus", "Alnus incana", "Crataegus monogyna", "Fraxinus excelsior", "Laburnum anagyroides", "Prunus spinosa", "Sorbus aria", and "Sorbus aucuparia".

See also

* List of botanical gardens in Italy

References

* [http://www.horti.unimore.it/CD/Corfino2Orecchiella/Orecchiellahome.html Horti entry (Italian)]
* [http://www.bgci.org/garden.php?id=3114 BGCI entry]
* [http://www2.corpoforestale.it/web/guest/ambientericerca/areeprotette/informazioni/orecchiella Corpo Forestale description (Italian)]
* [http://www.ipsiasimoniliceogalilei.lu.it/orecch/orto.htm Il Parco Naturale dell' Orecchiella - Orto botanico (Italian)]
* [http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/italy/tuscany%20with%20siena/entity_202991.html Fodors article]