Preservation of the Old Botanical Heritage Located in the Rhododendron Valley at the Burcina Park “F. Piacenza” (Northern Italy)

The Special Natural Reserve of the Burcina Park "F. Piacenza" (Northern Italy) holds a unique collection of evergreen rhododendrons with wide leafs and great flowers, realized between 1892 and 1925. The present study was started in the year 2000 with the aim to recover and safeguard this heritage. At first, in order to reach the rhododendrons, trees were pruned and paths were cleaned. Then, a census of all the plants was taken by means of GPS and the trees were located on an accurate cartography. Each tree was provided with a microchip, containing both morphological characteristics and historical and bibliographical data recovered in literature. This work helped define the plan for extraordinary and ordinary maintenance in the Rhododendron valley. To date, more than one thousand rhododendron plants have been counted in a census, and about one hundred different cultivars have been identified. Furthermore, during the past decades, new hybrids were born and they were registered into the International Rhododendron Register. The rare cultivars and the new hybrids are currently propagated by cutting or marcottage.