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The Alpine Garden of Pietro Corva is on the right side of Val Tidone, at 3.116 feet above sea level, on the slopes of Monte di Corvo.
It was opened to the public in 1967, and now houses more than 1.300 species divided according to their geographical origin: Europe, Asia, and America. The garden also features some other endangered species.
It has a guesthouse, a comprehensive visitor center, with a wealth of information about the local territory, and a series of instructional panels along the internal walkways. The neighboring fences house deers, fallow deers, and mouflons.

Educational activities are regularly organized, with guided tours, meetings and lectures on the very functions of the botanical gardens and the alpine section. Those events also include naturalistic laboratories, themed day trips, exhibitions, conferences, workshops, biodiversity studies, and conservation activities related to the endangered species.

BOTANICAL COLLECTIONS

The Garden contains around a thousand species distributed according to their ecological needs or their geographical origins. There are 70 species that grow on rocks rich in chromium, nickel, and cobalt, in the area above the garden – called “Sassi Neri” (“Black rocks”). There is also a very interesting collection of Saxifraga, Gentiana, Iris, Primula, and Campanula.

In the upper part of the garden, there’s an ophiolitic area which hosts the most significant and suitable species for this very environment (mafic and ultramafic lavas, and hypabyssal rocks found in association with sedimentary rocks like greywackes and cherts), such as Alyssum bertolonii, Armeria arenaria, Asplenium cuneifolium, and Linum campanulatum.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)