Location and area
The Systematic Section is located in the immediate proximity of the main gate of the Botanical Garden, on its left side, where, on an area of approximately 4.61 ha, are cultivated approximately 850 plant taxa, herbaceous (annual, biennial, perennial) and woody (trees and shrubs) vascular plants, arranged in the field according to their natural relationship in phyla, orders and botanical families.
Description
The natural evolution of plants is presented within this section, starting with species from Polypodiophyta (ferns) and Pinophyta (Gymnospermae = conifers, in the broad sense) phyla. Thus, right at the entrance in the Botanical Garden, on the left side, visitors can admire two specimens of Florida cedar (Torreya taxifolia), and, at some distance from them, there are three specimens of Metasequoia glyptostroboides, a deciduous conifer (with falling leaves) from the Cupressaceae family, known only as a fossil plant until 1941, when Professor Kan Duo (Toh Kan) discovered this species in a living status, in the forests of the mountainous area of central-southern China, so that, in 1948, Hu Xiansu and Wan-Chun Cheng scientifically described the species. Around them are several specimens of the pagoda tree or maidenhair tree, or the silver peach (Ginkgo biloba), three of them bearing female flowers, thus producing seeds.
Most part of the section is devoted to plants from the phylum Magnoliophyta (Angiospermae); the terrain designated for the section is crossed by a series of radial and circular alleys that allow visitors access to the plant layers and which also fulfill a scientific role (the section being a transposition in field of a "phylogenetic tree" of the plant world), by separating the orders and families from each other. A 3 m wide circular alley separates the orders with polypetalous flowers (with free petals), arranged towards the center of the section, from those with sympetalous flowers (with united petals) arranged towards the periphery of the section.
Not far from the first intersection in the Botanical Garden, on three sides of a small rectangular space of the section, there is a small square with the busts of three of the institution's former directors:
- professor Constantin Papp
- professor Constantin Burduja
- professor Emilian Topa
From this small square, two alleys emerge, guarded on the sides by columnar arborvitaes (Thuja occidentalis 'Fastigiata'), which delimit a wide parterre, decorated with spherical topiary forms of boxwood (Buxus sempervirens), a Mediterranean species fully acclimatized here.
In the center of the section, around a pool with water lilies of different varieties (including the native species of water lilies from the Romanian flora, Nymphaea alba and Nuphar lutea) and an Auditorium (a stone and wood construction), are grouped some species of the Magnoliophyta phylum, with representatives from the families: Ranunculaceae, Berberidaceae, Lardizabalaceae, Ebenaceae, Paeoniaceae, etc.
In addition to these families, the Systematic section contains many species of various botanical families, as: Asteraceae (Compositae): Achillea sp., Aster sp., Centaurea sp., Inula sp., Solidago sp., Tanacetum sp., etc.; Rosaceae; Brassicaceae (Cruciferae): Alyssum sp., Erysimum sp., Iberis sp., Isatis tinctoria, Sisymbrium sp., Fibigia clypeata, etc.; Caryophyllaceae, botanic family including many rare and protected plant species in the native flora of Romania, some species being cultivated here: Petrorhagia saxifraga, Dianthus nardiformis, Dianthus giganteus subspecies banaticus, etc.; Poaceae; Fabaceae (Leguminosae); Apiaceae (Umbelliferae); Fagaceae; Lamiaceae (Labiatae); Scrophulariaceae; Betulaceae; Moraceae; Cercidiphyllaceae; Aceraceae; Vitaceae; Ulmaceae; Tiliaceae; Liliaceae: Allium sp., Anthericum sp., Asparagus sp., Hemerocallis sp., Polygonatum sp., etc.
In the section there are cultivated some species that are rarely found parks and gardens in our country, such as: the larch (Larix decidua subspecies carpatica), the Swiss pine or Arolla pine (Pinus cembra), the dwarf mountain pine (Pinus mugo), magnolias (Magnolia kobus, Magnolia × soulangiana), the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), clematis (Clematis recta, Clematis integrifolia, Clematis heracleifolia var. davidiana etc.), the pipevine (Aristolochia macrophylla), the Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica), the witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), the Judas’ trees (Cercis siliquastrum, Cercis chinensis), the Christ's thorn (Paliurus spina-christi), the jujube (Ziziphus jujuba), the hackberry (Celtis occidentalis, Celtis australis), the fig (Ficus carica), the Osage orange (Maclura pomifera), the Caucasian oak (Quercus castaneifolia), Ephedra distachya subspecies distachya, the caramel tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum), the butcher's-broom (Ruscus aculeatus), Ruscus hypoglossum, Fritillaria montana, Linnaea amabilis, Lilium martagon, Paeonia peregrina, etc.
An continuous preoccupation represented by the cultivation of threatened species, listed in the Red Book of the Romanian flora, including: Acanthus balcanicus, Adonis volgensis, Asphodeline lutea, Bellevalia speciosa, Colchicum bulbocodium subspecies versicolor, Coronilla emerus subspecies emeroides, Cyanus napulifer subspecies thirkei, Doronicum orientale, Galanthus plicatus, Genista radiata, Iris suaveolens, Opopanax bulgaricus, Ornithogalum sigmoideum, Paeonia officinalis subspecies banatica, Paeonia tenuifolia, Prangos carinata, Syringa josikaea, Trachomitum venetum, etc.
Thematic
Through its theme, the Systematic section is especially addressed to pupils and students, to whom it offers the living framework necessary to understand the unity and diversity of the plant world, thus guiding them to form a scientific conception of the world and life.
Within the section, several rock gardens with many rare or endemic plants in the Romanian flora have been built, a micro-exhibition with fossil wood, while a Moldavian-style fountain enriches the cultural endowment of the Systematic section.
