Wild orchids in the Boboli Gardens

The rich population of wild orchids is an indication of the health of the park’s ecosystem

With 2023 spring begins a new season of census of the wild orchid plants in the Boboli Gardens, thanks to the collaboration between Gallerie degli Uffizi and GIROS, Gruppo Italiano per la Ricerca sulle Orchidee Spontanee.

The plants of wild orchids recorded in the garden of the grand ducal palace until spring 2022 are at least 2,300, belonging to 15 species, 3 color varieties and a hybrid, identified and described in Boboli for the first time and therefore named Ophrys ×bobolensis. The genera represented are: Anacamptis, Cephalanthera, Epipactis, Ophrys, Orchis, Serapias, Spiranthes. This varied and large presence in the meadows of an Italian garden located in the historic center of Florence, frequented by thousands of visitors each year, is evidence of an environment kept intact and healthy.