University of Arizona Campus Arboretum
ABOUT University of Arizona Campus Arboretum
The University of Arizona Campus Arboretum is a living laboratory promoting stewardship and conservation of urban trees through research, education and outreach.
The University of Arizona campus is home to hundreds of tree and shrub species from arid climates on every continent on earth. Most of the roughly 400 acres of The University of Arizona's main campus are included in the boundaries of the Campus Arboretum. The trees within these boundaries, collected over the University's more than 125 year history, are an historical part of the University's land grant commitment to providing research and education to serve the needs of the state. The campus itself was used as a proving ground and living laboratory in sustainability, evaluating hundreds of new species and cultivars for their adaptation to this urban and arid region. In 2002, The University of Arizona Campus Arboretum was established to preserve, curate and enhance this extensive collection as a resource for research and educational programs that promote the historic, scientific, environmental, economic, aesthetic, and educational value of trees in urban deserts.
VIRTUAL EXHIBIT
The olive trees on the west side of campus are among the oldest trees in Tucson. They were planted just after the University was established in the late 1800s by Robert Forbes, the first head of the Agriculture Experiment Station.
Find out more by reading the "University of Arizona Historic Olives," By Elizabeth Davison, the Founding Director of The UA Campus Arboretum here.
THE SHANTZ PHOTO COLLECTION
This is one of the photos in the Shantz Photo Collection showing the evolution of the UA landscape in pictures. See more historic photos from this collection here.
A LABORATORY THAT BECAME A PARK
What looks today like an elegant park is in fact the result of over a century of research and experimentation with desert plant material which began with the founding of the University of Arizona in 1885. Countless plants from arid regions around the world have been successfully introduced to the campus. Innovative methods of cultivation, propagation and selection ha