Faial Botanical Garden – Faial Island

Faial Botanical Garden – Faial Island

The Faial Botanical Garden is located at Quinta de São Lourenço, in the parish of Flamengos (Horta), on Faial Island. The Garden is part of the Faial Natural Park structure dedicated to biodiversity conservation, covering an area of approximately 8,000 m².

This fantastic garden is dedicated to conserving the natural flora of the Azores and Macaronesia. Additionally, it focuses on maintaining endangered plants and propagating rare species, with the Azores Seed Bank serving as a germplasm repository.

Among its various collections are:

• a collection of endemic plants from the archipelago, with about 50 species;
• a collection of medicinal plants;
• a collection of aromatic plants;
• ornamental plants;
• an orchidarium;
• a plant nursery.

The entire Botanical Garden is surrounded by stunning landscapes and a very relaxing atmosphere.

History

The Faial Botanical Garden was founded in 1886 on a former agricultural farm with pastures and orange orchards. It is the oldest environmental center in the Azores, initially covering an area of approximately 5,600 m².

The Garden was created to gather a collection of Macaronesian plants to preserve and promote this essential biodiversity. Within its 8,000 m² area, you can find all natural flora from the archipelago, including coastal vegetation, high-altitude vegetation, and sheltered ravine areas. There is also an abundance of ornamental, exotic, and medicinal plants.

Orchidarium

The orchidarium houses a wide variety of orchid species and hybrids, organized according to their environmental preferences. Different climate conditions are maintained in the orchidarium, including two warm greenhouses and two shaded greenhouses with outdoor areas.

The orchids are divided according to tropical and temperate zones. The orchidarium is maintained daily by qualified staff to ensure its preservation.

This orchidarium also includes over thirty orchid species collected by Henrique Peixoto (1917-2007), donated by the Santa Casa da Misericórdia da Horta.

Development

In 1995, a second area was established with the restoration of a 60,000 m² space in the parish of Padre Miguel. This project was the first to recover a natural habitat in the archipelago, planting species representative of humid and super-humid Laurissilva, with high landscape value.

In 2003, the Azores Seed Bank was created to collect all Azorean species for conventional seed bank conservation. In 2007, the Faial Botanical Garden underwent renovations, adding new facilities such as an auditorium, exhibition room, library, café, and the Ilídio Botelho Gonçalves herbarium.