Linnaeus Garden in Kalmar

The Linnaeus Garden offers a glimpse into Linnaeus’ tranquil oasis in central Kalmar.

At Linnaeus University in Kalmar, a small part of Carl Linnaeus’ botanical garden will soon take shape. We call it the Linnaeus Garden, and it is located on the terrace between Culmen and Vita. The first plant to be planted there was purple willow, Salix purpurea. This plant was a gift to Linnaeus University and came from Linnaeus’ summer residence, Hammarby, outside Uppsala.

Right now, the Linnaeus Garden is a newly sown seed growing vigorously, but soon it will be in full bloom.

A gift with roots dating back to Linnaeus’ time

In 2021, Professor William Hogland was contacted by Åke Bruce, Professor Emeritus and Vice Preses of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry.

Åke Bruce och William Hogland med Rödvide

Åke Bruce had heard about William Hogland’s work on cleaning soil contaminated by glass production in Orrefors using plants. The method is called phytoremediation and makes use of plants’ various abilities to absorb and store, or break down, different types of pollutants. One of the plants used in the remediation process is purple willow, a species that was present in Linnaeus’ garden. A specimen of this plant, with an authentic connection to Linnaeus’ Hammarby, was donated by Åke Bruce to Linnaeus University in Kalmar.

The Linnaeus Garden

As soon as Linnaeus University received the first purple willow plant, the idea of creating a garden in Linnaeus’ spirit on the Kalmar campus was born. The garden was designed by landscape architect Josefin Smedberg.

Linnaeus Garden – Conceptual Illustration

Plants featured in the Linnaeus Garden

Astrantia major ‘Buckland’ – Great Masterwort
Astrantia major ‘Moulin Rouge’ – Great Masterwort
Clematis ‘Helsingborg’ – Clematis
Fragaria vesca – Wild Strawberry
Helleborus niger – Christmas Rose
Heucherella ‘Sweet Tea’ – Foamy Bells
Polemonium reptans ‘Blue Pearl’ – Creeping Jacob’s Ladder
Anemone ‘Blue Shades’ – Balkan Anemone
Scilla – Early Squill
Scilla ‘Rosea’ – Early Squill
Salix purpurea – Purple Willow

Explore the Linnaeus Garden slideshow to see the plants in bloom:

Medicinal plants in the Linnaeus Garden

In the long term, the Linnaeus Garden will also include medicinal plants.

Many medicines in the 18th century came from the plant kingdom.

Carl Linnaeus was both a physician and a botanist, and medicinal plants were an important part of his garden. In 1749, he published Materia Medica, in which he described plants with healing properties. The book was used for decades across Europe in teaching, both in pharmacology and medicine.

In his botanical garden in Uppsala, Carl Linnaeus cultivated Swedish medicinal plants that he used when teaching medical students about botany. Among these were: opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.), valerian (Valeriana officinalis L.), belladonna (Atropa belladonna L.), wormwood (Artemisia absinthium L.), and chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.). One of Linnaeus’ major contributions to science was his method of naming and classifying plants. Plants in the same group were given a genus name (a “surname”) and a species name (a “first name”) in Latin. This system of naming plants and animals scientifically is still used today.

Special thanks to Ulyana Muñoz Acuña and Åke Bruce for providing information about medicinal plants in Linnaeus’ garden.

Locate the Linnaeus Garden on the Kalmar campus

You’ll find the Linnaeus Garden in the Neptuni area, on the third floor of the Vita building at Linnaeus University’s Kalmar campus.

The very first plant in the Linnaeus Garden was purple willow (Salix purpurea). You’ll find it in the space between the Stella and Vita buildings – see the photo below: