arboretum n : a facility where trees and shrubs are cultivated for exhibition [syn: botanical garden] [also: arboreta (pl)]

English

Noun

1. A place where many varieties of trees are grown for research, educational, and ornamental purposes.

An arboretum is a collection of trees. Related collections include a fruticetum (from the Latin frutex, meaning shrub), and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of primarily woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study. An arboretum specialising in growing conifers is known as a pinetum.

Invention

Shortly before the Derby Arboretum opened, a more complete arboretum was opened for free public access at Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington near London, modelled partly on Mount Auburn Cemetery near Boston and designed by Loddiges nursery. It was laid out with 2,500 trees and shrubs, all labelled and arranged in an unusual alphabetical format from A for Acer (maple trees) to Z for Zanthoxylum (American toothache trees). Until Kew was enlarged and opened to the public, this remained the largest arboretum in Europe. It never achieved the recognition of the better financed early nineteenth century botanical gardens and arboreta that could afford members' events, indoor facilities and curatoral staff for those who paid accordingly. However unlike these, and even unlike the 'public' arboretum at Derby, the Abney Park arboretum always offered public access free of charge, though sometimes, by pre-arrangement; a Viewing Order was needed so as not to interefere with funeral events. Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts is one of the oldest, largest, and most famous arboreta in the United States. It was established in 1872 on 107 ha (264 acres) of land in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston and was guided for many years by Charles Sprague Sargent who was appointed the Arboretum's first director in 1873 and spent the following 54 years shaping the policies. By an arrangement with the city of Boston, the Arnold Arboretum became part of the famous "Emerald Necklace", the 10 km (7 mile) long network of parks and parkways that Frederick Law Olmsted laid out for the Boston Parks Department between 1878 and 1892. Arborétum Mlyňany is located in the area of two neighboring villages Vieska nad Žitavou and Tesárske Mlyňany near Zlaté Moravce, Slovakia. It was established in 1892 by Hungarian Count István Ambrózy-Migazzi. Today, it is governed by the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Within its 67 ha (165 acre) area, the arboretum features more than 2300 woody plant species, being one of the largest collections in Central Europe. Bedgebury Pinetum near Goudhurst, Kent is one of the world's most complete collections of conifers. The first public arboretum in England was Derby Arboretum, laid out by J.C. Loudon, and donated to the citizens of Derby by Joseph Strutt, on Wednesday 16 September 1840. In 1859 it was visited by Frederick Law Olmsted on his European tour of parks, and it had an influence on the planting in Central Park, New York. Loudon wrote a catalogue of the trees in Derby Arboretum in 1840; unfortunately, industrial pollution killed most of the original plantings by the 1880s, but it is being renovated and replanted closer to Loudon's original layout. The Holden Arboretum, in Kirtland, Ohio, USA, is one of the largest arboretums and botanical gardens in the United States, with over 3,400 acres (1,376 ha), 600 acres (243 ha) of which are devoted to collections and gardens. The Arboretum is named for Albert Fairchild Holden, a mining engineer and executive, who had considered making Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum his beneficiary. However, his sister, Roberta Holden Bole, convinced him that Cleveland deserved its own arboretum. Thus Mr. Holden established an arboretum in memory of his deceased daughter, Elizabeth Davis. Located in Portland, Oregon, United States, the Hoyt Arboretum has over 75 ha (185 acres) and close to 8,300 different species of plants.

Affectionately referred to as "The Arb", Lincoln Arboretum is to the east of the City and retains it line of sight up the hill to the nearby Lincoln Cathedral. This was one of the original design features. It was laid out between 1870 and 1872 by Edward Milner and has been renovated since 2002. Located in Lisle, Illinois the Morton Arboretum was founded in 1922 by Joy Morton, founder of the Morton Salt Company and son of Arbor Day originator Julius Sterling Morton. At 687 ha (1,700 acres) the Arboretum is one of the largest in the world, and features several mature deciduous and coniferous forests, as well as collections of plant life from around the globe, in addition to ten lakes, several wetlands, and a 40 ha (100 acre) restored prairie. Affectionately referred to as "The Arb", the Nottingham Arboretum is a large park that also gives its name to the residential area - in which it lies - of the City of Nottingham, England. Peru State College’s “Campus of a Thousand Oaks,” an arboretum campus, is nestled in historic southeast Nebraska. The state’s first and fastest-growing college, Peru State was established by the Nebraska legislature in 1867 and now offers a unique mix of innovative online and traditional classroom undergraduate and graduate programs. The Arboretum at Flagstaff, at 7,150 feet (2180 m) above sea level, focuses on the native plants that thrive in the high, arid environment of the Colorado Plateau. The facility also is unique in that it offers daily raptor programs during its April - October visitor season. The Tasmanian Arboretum was established in 1984 on the Don River in Devonport, Tasmania, Australia. The main site is 58ha. There are over 2500 plants in the geographic and thematic collections along with riparian revegetation. Maintenance of the collections is done by volunteers. In 1927 the United States National Arboretum was established in Washington D.C. on 180 ha (444 acres) of land; currently it receives over half a million annual visitors. Single-genus groupings include apples, azaleas, boxwoods, dogwoods, hollies, magnolias and maples. Other major garden features include collections of herbaceous and aquatic plants, the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, the Asian Collections, the Conifer Collections, native plant collections, the National Herb Garden and the 'National Grove' of all the designated State Trees. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum in Madison, Wisconsin is a study collection devoted to ecology rather than systematics. Founded in the 1930s, it was a Civilian Conservation Corps project which restored a body of land to its presettlement state. Portions of the Walt Disney nature documentary, "The Vanishing Prairie", were filmed there, notably the prairie fire, filmed during a controlled burn at the Arboretum.

The Washington Park Arboretum at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington was established in 1934 as a public space that would agreed upon by the University of Washington and the City of Seattle. Seattle at the time had in its possession a 500+ ha (1200+ acre) park known as Washington park located in the central portion of the city, and the University was given authority to design, construct, plant, and manage an Arboretum and Botanical Garden in this park. It has been a popular destination of Seattlites ever since. In 2005, the Washington Park Arboretum, as well as the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture, Elisabeth C. Miller Library, Otis Hyde Herbarium and Union Bay Natural Area, began operating under the umbrella of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens.

See also

• List of botanical gardens and arboretums in the United States
• Landscape architecture
• Landscaping
• Tree
• Wood
• Xylotheque

External links

• Arboretum of Los Angeles County, Arcadia,CA
• National Swiss Arboretum, Aubonne
• Arboretum Mustila, Finland
• The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Boston, MA
• Bailey Arboretum ("The Teaching Arboretum"), Lattingtown, NY
• The Batsford Arboretum, Gloucestershire
• Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest
• Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Superior, AZ
• Carleton College's Cowling Arboretum, Northfield, MN
• Currency Creek Arboretum - Eucalypt Research
• Dawes Arboretum, Newark, OH
• Derby Arboretum website, with full history
• Dominium Arboretum, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
• Eastwoodhill arboretum, Gisborne, New Zealand
• The Arboretum at Flagstaff
• Universidad Francisco Marroquin Arboretum, Guatemala, Guatemala
• The Holden Arboretum, Kirtland, Ohio, United States
• Hoyt Arboretum, Portland, Oregon, United States
• The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois, United States
• Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh, NC
• Arborétum Mlyňany, Slovakia
• Nichols Arboretum, Ann Arbor, MI
• The North Carolina Arboretum, Asheville, NC
• Shaw Nature Reserve
• UIUC Arboretum, Urbana, IL
• U.S. National Arboretum, Washington D.C.
• Westonbirt Arboretum Forestry Commission
• Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum
• Morgan Arboretum, Ste Anne de Bellevue, Quebec
• The Great Lakes Forestry Centre Arboretum, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
• Xiloteca Manuel Soler
• The University of Guelph Arboretum, Guelph, Ontario
• The National Memorial Arboretum, Stafforshire, UK
• The National Memorial Arboretum
• The Wofford Arboretum, Spartanburg, SC

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