Botanical Gardens and Arboreta are scientific institutions that acquire and maintain living collections of
plants for the purposes of research and education. They perform the same function for plants as
Zoos and Aquariums do for
animals.
Typically, to belong within category Science:Institutions botanical gardens and arboreta must have a full-time scientific staff, an herbarium and library, and a catalogued collection of thousands of plants. Although botanical gardens and arboreta may also have a public viewing area, in which case they may be listed as well under Public Gardens, it is the presence of a viable research faculty using an herbarium or herbaria which distinguishes botanical gardens and arboreta from public gardens. This tends to make botanical gardens and arboreta larger in size and more dedicated to preservation of plant taxa than Public Gardens, however size or reputation are not the determining factors.
Universities with herbaria do not constitute botanical gardens, even if there is a botanical garden on campus, and even if there is a research program involved, but are listed instead under Science: Biology: Botany: Education. The reason is that University botanical research falls within a traditional academic structure dedicated primarily to teaching.