Botanical gardens are often run by universities or other scientific research organizations, often associated with herb programs, plant classification research programs or other aspects of botany. In principle, its role is to maintain documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific research, conservation, presentation and education, although this will depend on the resources available and the specific interests of each particular park.
The origin of modern botanical gardens is generally traced to the appointment of professors of botany at the medical colleges of universities in the Renaissance in Italy in the sixteenth century, which also necessitated the coordination of a medical park. However, the objectives, content and audience of today's botanical gardens are very similar to the gardens of antiquity and the Theophrastus Park at the ancient Athens School of Lycium
