The United States National Arboretum is an arboretum in Washington, D.C., operated by the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service as a division of the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. It was established in 1927 by an act of Congress after a campaign by USDA Chief Botanist Frederick Vernon Coville.
It is 446 acres (1.80 km2) in size, and is located 2.2 miles (3.5 km) northeast of the Capitol building, with entrances on New York Avenue and R Street, Northeast. Nine miles of roadways wind through and connect the numerous gardens and collections on the campus.
The arboretum functions as a major center of botanical research. It conducts wide-ranging basic and developmental research on trees, shrubs, turf, and floral plants. It has a library with 10,000 volumes and approximately 90 publications concentrating in botanical literature.
Gardens/collections [edit]
Major garden features [edit]
- Aquatic Plants Collection
- Asian Collections
- Japanese Woodland
- Asian Valley
- China Valley
- Korean Hillside
- Classical Chinese Garden (proposed), a 12-acre (4.9 ha) garden designed by a joint team from China and the United States.
- Flowering Tree Collection
- The Friendship Garden and Arbor House
- Gift Shop
- Friends of the National Arboretum Office
- National Bonsai Foundation Office
- Gotelli Dwarf and Slow Growing Conifer Collection
- Gotelli & Watnong Collections
- Spruces, Firs, Japanese Maples
- Introduction Garden
- National Bonsai and Penjing Museum
- Japanese, Chinese, North American, and International Pavilions
- National Capitol Columns (see image above)
- National Grove of State Trees, specimens of most of the U.S. state trees
- National Herb Garden
- Historic Roses
- Knot Garden
- Specialty Gardens
- Native Plant Collections ("Fern Valley")
- Fern Valley Woodland
- Prairie
- Southeastern Coastal Plain
Single-genus groupings [edit]
National Herb Garden at the United States National Arboretum
- Azalea Collections
- Glenn Dale Azalea Hillside
- Morrison Garden
- Lee Garden
- Dogwood Collection
- Dogwoods
- Anacostia River Overlook
- Holly Collection
- Magnolia Collection
- Maple Collection
- National Boxwood Collection
- Perennial Collections
- Peony
- Iris
- Daylily
- Daffodil
Public art [edit]
Split Ritual by Beverly Pepper
The Arboretum features a small group of public artworks including "Split Ritual" by American sculptor Beverly Pepper. The piece is made of ductile iron and stands at H. 10 ft (3.0 m) x W. 44 in (110 cm) x D. 100 in (250 cm). It consists of four vertical pieces that look like large tools. They are placed in a circle on top of a doughnut shaped flat foundation and each tool is unique. The sculpture was dedicated in 1993 and in the same year was surveyed by the Smithsonian's Save Outdoor Sculpture! program and its condition was declared as well maintained.[1]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
External links [edit]
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