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San Marco Alpine Botanical Garden was named after the Saint to whom the church near the Pian delle Fugazze pass is dedicated. This garden is found in the municipality of Valli del Pasubio, in the upper Val Leogra, in the province of Vicenza, at an altitude of 3.412 ft.

It covers 2.5 acres, a third of which features a beech forest, while the rest is covered by mountain meadows, a humid area, a sowing area and a rocky patch. The garden includes many different environments, almost exclusively coming from the neighbouring territory of the Small Venetian Dolomites and partly coming from the Venetian Prealps or from the southern eastern Prealps.
In some cases, similar plant species were brought together, in order to compare their morphological differences and correctly identify the huge variety of shapes.

Their affinity-ranking can be different: there are congenital species, such as Saxifraga, Geranium, and Lonicera, or plants that belong to the same family, such as the Orchidaceae. Furthermore, the garden features species belonging to higher taxonomic ranks, such as those of the Pteridophyta group.

The garden also has some typical environments like the beech forest, the wetland and the mountain meadow; right here, plant species are not cultivated but are only acknowledged when blooming. Information panels are abundant throughout the garden, to help visitors make the most of their visit to this wonderful alpine facility.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)