The botanical garden in Florence was founded in 1545 and covers
an area of about two and a half acres with trees of great height
and wild growing plants in the beds of the garden. The 'giardino
dei semplici' derives its name from the medical plants found
there. In the 1800's it was a meeting place for the citizens of
Florence; the first custodian, or 'semplicista' was Luca Ghini,
and after him Cesalpino, Micheli, while the cardinal Gian Carlo
de' Medici held evening parties there. In 1753 the Accademia dei
Georgofili took over its upkeep and redid it with somewhat
unappealing tall trees, designed by Ottaviano Targioni Tozzetti.
The wild growing plants are cultivated mainly in pots, in the
greenhouse or outside; the 'hot' greenhouses are graced with
autonomous and controlled heat, and in some of them a special
instrument to regulate the greenhouse has been put into place:
with this machine made of a series of air conditioned rooms,
climates and meteorological situations can be reproduced for
observation and bo