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The Cornell Botanic Gardens is a
botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
located adjacent to the
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
campus in
Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...
. The Botanic Gardens proper consist of of botanical gardens and of the F. R. Newman Arboretum. The greater Botanic Gardens includes 40 different nature areas around Cornell and Ithaca, covering . The origin of the Botanic Gardens dates back to Cornell's beginning in the mid-19th century and are part of the university's longtime interest in agriculture, forestry, and the natural sciences. The Botanic Gardens saw a major planting effort during the 1930s and assumed the name Cornell Plantations in 1944. Gardens and facilities have continually expanded, including a construction program at the start of the 21st century. The Botanic Gardens also maintains four gardens on Cornell's central campus. The Botanic Gardens offers three courses for academic credit, are used as a resource by other classes, host a number of informal lectures and tours, and have played a part in many scholarly papers. , the Botanic Gardens had a $2.9 million annual operating budget. The name was changed to the current form in 2016. The gardens specialize in trees and shrubs native to New York State. The themed herb garden is especially noted. The Botanic Gardens have been the subject of several books and films over the years, are open daily without charge, and have been recommended as a visitation site by a number of travel books and newspaper travel sections.


History

Prior to the founding of Cornell University, Ezra Cornell had a large farm on the East Hill above Ithaca, New York. As part of locating New York State's land-grant college in Ithaca, Cornell offered to donate the farm for use as a campus. In 1862, Cornell's first president, Andrew Dickson White, wrote a colleague that a great university should include a botanical garden: “It must have the best of Libraries – collections in different departments – Laboratory – Observatory – Botanical Garden perhaps…” At the university's opening ceremony in 1868,
Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...
, an internationally known naturalist, remarked that no other area could compete with Cornell's surroundings in the opportunities offered for the study of natural history. From its inception, Cornell formed a reputation for creative means of research into the natural sciences, including the establishment of the pioneering College of Agriculture. When the university built its first women's dormitory in 1875, it included a conservatory for growing plants and a specimen tree collection. Separately, the College of Veterinary Medicine started a specialized garden of plants that are poisonous to livestock. Cornell's farm included two deep gorges which flanked both sides of the early campus, and as the campus developed the gorges remained undeveloped and filled with native plants and wildlife. These became the start of the on-campus gardens and arboretum. A goal of creating an explicit arboretum was proposed in various university reports to trustees and other publications in 1877, 1883, 1908, and 1914. Cornell's acquisition of off-campus forest land dates to 1898 and the founding of the New York State College of Forestry, which was the first forestry college in North America. As a part of establishing that school, Cornell acquired a demonstration forest near Saranac Lake in the Adirondack Mountains. The harvesting of trees from that forest drew heated opposition from neighboring land owners. Although political opposition caused Cornell to transfer the forest lands under the "forever wild" protection of the Adirondack Forest Preserve and to transfer Cornell's forestry education programs to its College of Agriculture, Cornell continued to acquire forest land remote from its main campus. In 1935, the decision to create an arboretum was finally made and the university established the Arboretum as a separate department. From 1935 to 1940, the federal government's
Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...
Camp SP 48 devoted 170 to 200 workers to planting trees, constructing dikes, and building trails in order to develop the Arboretum. In 1944,
Liberty Hyde Bailey Liberty Hyde Bailey (March 15, 1858 – December 25, 1954) was an American horticulturist and reformer of rural life. He was cofounder of the American Society for Horticultural Science.Makers of American Botany, Harry Baker Humphrey, Ronald Press ...
, the Dean emeritus of the College of Agriculture and a horticulturalist highly regarded around the world, proposed the name Cornell Plantations for an expanded department in a report that reflected the work of a number of botany and horticulture professors. By 1948, the Plantations numbered and the first Director was named, John F. Cornman. During a 1949 broadcast on widely heard radio station WGY, Cornell emeritus professor
Bristow Adams Bristow Adams (November 11, 1875 – November 1956) was an American journalist, professor, forester, and illustrator. Adams was born in Washington, D.C. He taught at Cornell University from 1914 to 1945. Adams also founded the ''Stanford Ch ...
reflected upon the now five-year-old Plantations, and stated that the relationship between humans and things that grow were of utmost importance and that gardens, forests, and parks were everlasting collections that "have the care and trusteeships of generation after generation." In the mid-1960s, the sculpture garden was constructed in the middle of the Arboretum as a project of the College of Architecture Art and Planning. By 1965, the Plantations consisted of . By 1970, the university was issuing a publication called ''The Cornell Plantations'', which contained general articles on nature and environmental topics. Beginning in the early 1970s, the Arboretum was upgraded with new roads and plantings funded by major gifts from oil industry figure Floyd R. Newman, and in 1982 the Arboretum was formally named in his honor (as were several other buildings and facilities at Cornell over the years). During the 1980s, the Plantations experienced people stealing pines and firs for
Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...
s, with in some cases trees being taken that were worth several thousand dollars. A successful countermeasure created by Gerardo Sciarra at the Plantations was covering the trees with a harmless yet visually unpleasant "Ugly Mix" spray that included hydrated limestone, an anti-desiccant, and water. The technique was subsequently recommended to others worried about tree theft. In 2009, the Plantations suffered from a series of thefts of new or rare plants. A director at the Plantations, which had no security in place, said that the thieves must have been experienced horticulturalists and that the loss of research and species had been a demoralizing experience. At the start of the 21st century, the Plantations embarked on a construction program which included: Arboretum Center (2000), Horticultural Center (2001), Mullestein Winter Garden (2002), Ramin Administration Building (2003), Rowley Carpenter Shop (2004), Plant Production Facility (2007), and Lewis Education Center (2008). The new $7.5 million Brian C. Nevin Welcome Center was dedicated on October 28, 2010. Five years in the designing and building, the new facility was built to
LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
gold standards and won a 2010 Award of Excellence from '' Canadian Architect'' magazine. By the 2010s, the name Cornell Plantations was proving problematic, due to the association of the word with
plantations in the American South A plantation complex in the Southern United States is the built environment (or complex) that was common on agricultural plantations in the American South from the 17th into the 20th century. The complex included everything from the main resid ...
and
slavery in the United States The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Sl ...
. In 2015 the university's Black Students United organization demanded that Cornell "change the name of tas soon as possible." The name was technically inaccurate as well, with
plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
s usually being a large-scale monocultural for commercial purposes, which this was not. A change of the name was under consideration for the better part of ten years, and then during 2014–16 there were focus groups, surveys, and polls taken to determine a favorite among nine possible different names for the Plantations, and Cornell Botanic Gardens was chosen as the new name in 2016.


Current extent


F.R. Newman Arboretum

The F.R. Newman arboretum contains the following collections on : ; Chestnut Collection :Established in 2000 with 5 transplanted, grafted
chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...
trees for each of 5 cultivars. At present 4 trees remain, representing 3 of the 5 cultivars. Eventually 25 cultivars will be represented. American Chestnut: Mundy Wildflower Garden, Schnee Oak Collection, Bald Hill and Caroline Pinnacles, Cayuta Lake, Ringwood Ponds, South Hill Swamp. Source of plant: The American Chestnut Foundation, Allen Nichols, Stanley Scharf ; Conifer Collection :Several sites with 21 taxa of
fir Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...
s (excluding dwarf forms), 39 of
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
s, and 25 of
spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...
s. ; Flowering Crabapple Collection :83 cultivars in a new collection; many trees are quite small. ; Maple Collection :One of the core collections. One site contains Red Maple ('' Acer rubrum''), Sugar Maple (''Acer saccharum''), Silver Maple (''Acer saccharinum''), and
Striped Maple ''Acer pensylvanicum'', known as the striped maple, moosewood, moose maple or goosefoot maple, is a small North American species of maple. The striped maple is a sequential hermaphrodite, meaning that it can change its sex throughout its lifetime ...
(''Acer pensylvanicum''). Another contains an overstory of ''
Acer × freemanii ''Acer'' × ''freemanii'', Freeman maple or Freeman's maple, is a naturally occurring hybrid maple that is the result of a cross between ''Acer rubrum'' (red maple) and ''Acer saccharinum'' (silver maple). Wild specimens are found in eastern Nort ...
'' with an understory of shade-loving maples, including snakebark maples (''Acer davidii'' and ''Acer tegmentosum'') and small trees similar to the Japanese maple, such as ''Acer shirasawanum'' and ''Acer pseudosieboldianum''. A third site consists primarily of small Asian Maples. ; Oak Collection :50
oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
taxa in a fairly young collection, with a goal of acquiring all species hardy in Zone 5. ; Urban Tree Collection :Planted throughout the arboretum. ; Walnut Collection :The oldest collection, planted in the early 1960s. 20 cultivars, representing
Black Walnut ''Juglans nigra'', the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to North America. It grows mostly in riparian zones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south t ...
('' Juglans nigra''), Butternut (''Juglans cinerea'') and Heartnut (''Juglans ailanthifolia''). In addition, the arboretum features an extensive set of trails.


Botanical gardens

The botanical gardens specialize in trees and shrubs native to New York State. Overall, they contain a wide variety of ornamental, useful, and native plants on , arranged into gardens as follows: ;Container Gardens :Ornamental plants suitable for growing in containers, such as '' Agastache foeniculum'', '' Agave'', ''
Alocasia ''Alocasia'' is a genus of rhizomatous or tuberous, broad-leaved, perennial, flowering plants from the family Araceae. There are about 90 accepted species native to tropical and subtropical Asia and eastern Australia. Around the world, many growe ...
esculenta'', '' Amaranthus'', '' Canna × generalis'', '' Celosia'', ''
Coleus ''Coleus'' is a genus of annual or perennial herbs or shrubs, sometimes succulent, sometimes with a fleshy or tuberous rootstock, found in the Old World tropics and subtropics. The relationship among the genera ''Coleus'', '' Solenostemon'' and ...
'', ''
Colocasia ''Colocasia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to southeastern Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Some species are widely cultivated and naturalized in other tropical and subtropical regions. The names elephant-ear ...
'', '' Cordyline'', ''
Cuphea ''Cuphea'' is a genus containing about 260 species of annual and perennial flowering plants native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas. The species range from low-growing herbaceous plants to semi-woody shrubs up to tall. Com ...
'', ''
Cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk (botany), trunk with a crown (botany), crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants o ...
'', ''
Duranta erecta ''Duranta erecta'' is a species of flowering shrub in the verbena family Verbenaceae, native from Mexico to South America and the Caribbean. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in tropical and subtropical gardens throughout the world, ...
'', ''
Eucalyptus cinerea ''Eucalyptus cinerea'', commonly known as the Argyle apple, mealy stringbark or silver dollar tree, is a species of small- to medium-sized tree that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has rough, fibrous bark on the trunk and branches, usu ...
'', ''
Fuchsia ''Fuchsia'' () is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. The first to be scientifically described, '' Fuchsia triphylla'', was discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republi ...
'', '' Hibiscus acetosella'', ''
Iresine ''Iresine'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. It contains 20 to 25 species, all of which are native to the American tropics. The generic name is derived from the Greek word εριος (''erios''), meaning "wooly", refer ...
'', ''
Lantana camara ''Lantana camara'' (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant within the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics. It is a very adaptable species, which can inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems; once it has been introduc ...
'', ''
Melianthus major ''Melianthus major'', the giant honey flower or ''kruidjie-roer-my-nie'' (Afrikaans for 'herb-touch-me-not'), is a species of flowering plant in the family Francoaceae. It is an evergreen suckering shrub, endemic to South Africa and naturalised ...
'', ''
Perilla frutescens ''Perilla frutescens'', commonly called deulkkae, perilla or Korean perilla, is a species of ''Perilla'' in the mint family Lamiaceae. It is an annual plant native to Southeast Asia and Indian highlands, and is traditionally grown in the Korean ...
'', '' Phormium tenax'', ''
Salpiglossis sinuata ''Salpiglossis sinuata'', the painted tongue, scalloped tube tongue, velvet trumpet flower, palito amargo ( Spanish : ''bitter little stick'' - from the extreme bitterness of its leaves) or panza de burro ( Spanish : ''donkey's paunch'' ), is ...
'', and ''
Solenostemon scutellarioides ''Coleus scutellarioides'', commonly known as coleus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae (the mint or deadnettle family), native to southeast Asia through to Australia. Typically growing to tall and wide, it is a bushy, wood ...
''. ;Deans Garden :Herbaceous and woody plants, many uncommon in the Ithaca area, such as '' Vancouveria hexanra'' and '' Stuartia pseudocamellia''. ;Decorative Arts Flower Garden :A wide variety of flowers including
sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as ...
, carnation,
rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
, poppy,
peony The peony or paeony is a flowering plant in the genus ''Paeonia'' , the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae . Peonies are native to Asia, Europe and Western North America. Scientists differ on the number of species that can be distinguished, ...
, iris,
lily ''Lilium'' () is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in mu ...
,
chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums (), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants of the genus ''Chrysanthemum'' in the family Asteraceae. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia and the center ...
, daisy, and tulip. ;Flowering Shrub and Ornamental Grass Garden :Flowering shrubs, ornamental grasses, and perennials including daylillies. Shrubs include ''
Hypericum ''Hypericum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae (formerly considered a subfamily of Clusiaceae). The genus has a nearly worldwide distribution, missing only from tropical lowlands, deserts and polar regions. Many ''Hype ...
'', '' Hydrangea'', and ''
Potentilla ''Potentilla'' is a genus containing over 300Guillén, A., et al. (2005)Reproductive biology of the Iberian species of ''Potentilla'' L. (Rosaceae).''Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid'' 1(62) 9–21. species of annual, biennial and perenni ...
''; grasses include '' Calamagrostis'', ''
Chasmanthium latifolium ''Chasmanthium latifolium'', known as northern wood-oats, inland sea oats, northern sea oats, and river oats is a species of grass native to the central and eastern United States, Manitoba, and northeastern Mexico; it grows as far north as Pennsy ...
'', '' Festuca'', ''
Miscanthus ''Miscanthus'', or silvergrass, is a genus of African, Eurasian, and Pacific Island plants in the grass family, Poaceae. ; Species * ''Miscanthus changii'' Y.N.Lee – Korea * ''Miscanthus depauperatus'' Merr. – the Philippines * ''Miscanthus ...
'', '' Molinia'', '' Panicum virgatum'', '' Pennisetum alopecuroides'', and ''
Saccharum ravennae ''Tripidium ravennae'', synonym ''Saccharum ravennae'' (and many others), with the common names ravennagrass and elephant grass, is a species of grass in the genus ''Tripidium''. It is native to southern Europe, western Asia and South Asia and is ...
''. ;Groundcover Garden :Groundcovers including ''
Asarum ''Asarum'' is a genus of plants in the birthwort family Aristolochiaceae, commonly known as wild ginger. ''Asarum'' is the genitive plural of the Latin ''āsa'' (an alternate form of ''āra'') meaning altar or sanctuary. Description ''Asarum' ...
'', '' Athyrium'', ''
Cyclamen hederifolium ''Cyclamen hederifolium'', the ivy-leaved cyclamen or sowbread, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae. This widespread cyclamen species is widely cultivated and among the most hardy and vigorous in oceanic climates. It is na ...
'', '' Dryopteris'', '' Helleborus orientalis'', '' Hosta'', '' Lysimachia'', ''
Marrubium ''Marrubium'' (horehound or hoarhound) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae, native to temperate regions of Europe, North Africa, and Asia as far east as the Xinjiang region of western China. A few species are also naturalize ...
'', and ''
Pachysandra ''Pachysandra'' is a genus of five species of evergreen perennials or subshrubs, belonging to the boxwood family Buxaceae. The species are native to eastern Asia and southeast North America, some reaching a height of , with only weakly woody ste ...
''. ;Robison Herb Garden :Opened in 1974 after 20 years of being envisioned and 2 years of construction, it consists of 17 raised beds of herbs, arranged by theme as follows: Ornamental Herbs; Herbs of the Ancients; Herbs in Literature; Bee Herbs; Salads and Potherbs; Edible flowers; Herbs of the Native Americans; Medicinal Herbs; Culinary Herbs; Economic Herbs; Dye Herbs; Tea Herbs; Fragrant Herbs; Sacred Herbs; Scented Geraniums; Savory Seed Herbs; and Tussie-Mussies and Nosegays. The sources to begin the garden came from around the world, with some species linked to cultures from antiquity. More than 500 plants are included. The design inspired plans for a similar herb garden in
New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...
in 1980. ;Heritage Vegetable Garden :Four beds, representing typical
vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...
s grown in the
northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...
in the 18th century, the late 19th century, World Wars I and II, and today's gardens. Such gardens are not common. The gardener in charge of it has been mentioned in newspaper columns as an expert in growing tomatoes. ;International Crop and Weed Garden :Crop plants and economically important plants from around the world, including
banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
s, sugar cane,
coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...
,
tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...
,
sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...
,
cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
,
grasses Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and ...
, and forbs (non-grass plants eaten by livestock); also a collection of weeds arranged in an attractive agricultural setting. ;Peony and Sun Perennial Garden :Over 90 cultivars of peonies, as well as a display of recent perennial cultivars suitable for sunny locations. ;Poisonous Plants Garden :Plants poisonous to livestock, including '' Atropa'', ''
Chelidonium ''Chelidonium'', commonly known as celandines, is a small genus of flowering plants in the poppy family The Poppy Family was a Canadian psychedelic pop group based in Vancouver. They had a number of international hit records in the late 1960 ...
'', '' Cicuta'', '' Digitalis'', '' Lobelia'', ''
Phytolacca ''Phytolacca'' is a genus of perennial plants native to North America, South America and East Asia. Some members of the genus are known as pokeweeds or similar names such as pokebush, pokeberry, pokeroot or poke sallet. Other names for species ...
'', and '' Rheum''. (Although ''
Cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...
'' was included in the garden for many years, it was removed by the early 1970s.) ;Rhododendron and Woodland Perennial Garden :Hundreds of
rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...
s and
azalea Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and '' Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, and Octob ...
s, set among white
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
s,
fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...
s, hostas, etc. ;Rock Garden :Rock garden, including ''
Aethionema ''Aethionema'' is a genus of flowering plants within the family Brassicaceae. They are known as stonecresses. Stonecresses originate from sunny limestone mountainsides in Europe and West Asia, especially Turkey. ''Aethionema'' have typically pe ...
'', '' Arenaria'', ''
Aubrieta ''Aubrieta'' (often misspelled as Aubretia) is a genus of about 20 species of flowering plants in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. The genus is named after Claude Aubriet, a French flower painter. It originates from southern Europe east to centr ...
'', '' Cymbalaria'', '' Dianthus'', ''
Erigeron ''Erigeron'' () is a large genus of plants in the family Asteraceae. It is closely related to the genus ''Aster'' and the true daisies in the genus ''Bellis''. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution in dry, mountainous areas and grassland, wit ...
'', ''
Globularia ''Globularia'' is a genus of about 22 species of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae, native to central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. They are dense low evergreen mat-forming perennials or subs ...
'', '' Houstonia'', '' Leiophyllum'', ''
Linaria ''Linaria'' is a genus of almost 200 species of flowering plants, one of several related groups commonly called toadflax. They are annuals and herbaceous perennials, and the largest genus in the Antirrhineae tribe of the plantain family Planta ...
'', '' Penstemon'', '' Pulsatilla'', '' Sedum'', '' Silene'', '' Hebe'', etc. ;Wildflower Garden :
Wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the w ...
s including
skunk cabbage Skunk cabbage is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * the genus ''Lysichiton'' ** Asian skunk cabbage, ''Lysichiton camtschatcensis'', grows in eastern Asia ** Western skunk cabbage, '' Lysichiton americanus'', grows in western Nor ...
, trout lily, marsh marigold, and trillium. ;Winter Garden :Plants interesting in all seasons, including
dogwood ''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shrub ...
,
willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...
,
birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
,
hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
, and dwarf to midsize
conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...
s. ;Woodland Streamside Garden :A boardwalk through a
bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
gy areas including royal
fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...
s, blue and yellow flag iris, and Japanese primrose.


Nature areas

In addition to the gardens and arboretum, Cornell Botanic Gardens also manages an additional of biologically diverse natural areas, including
bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
s,
fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. T ...
s, gorges,
glen A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower ...
s,
meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...
s, and
woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
s. These areas contain some of walking trails. * Bald Hill – Mountain laurel (''Kalmia latifolia'') is abundant in this area. * Beebe Lake and Woods – In 1828, to capture the waterpower of Fall Creek, Ezra Cornell help construct Beebe Dam on Fall Creek. The dam and Lake have since been upgraded. * Bluegrass Lane Natural Areas – located near the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course. * Brooktondale Meadow * Carter Creek Preserve – of woodlands about southwest of Cornell. * Cascadilla Gorge – a gorge formed as Cascadilla Creek drops from the campus to downtown Ithaca, with a walking trail and many waterfalls. * Cascadilla Meadows – Cascadilla Creek was channelized when the Wilson Lab was constructed in this meadow flood plain. * Cayuga Marsh – a low-lying wetland of cattails (''Typha latifolia'') at the north end of
Lake Cayuga Cayuga Lake (,,) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under long. Its average width is , and it is ...
. * Cayuga Lake – on northeast shore. * Etna Fringed Gentian Area * Fall Creek Valley North * Fall Creek Valley South * Fischer Old-Growth Forest – a preserve containing rare examples of yellow oak (''Quercus muehlenbergii''). * Hertel Bowl * Lick Brook * Lighthouse Point – a biological station located a bit over from campus on the eastern shore of
Lake Cayuga Cayuga Lake (,,) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under long. Its average width is , and it is ...
. * McDaniel Meadow, Woods and Swamp – former farm about north of campus. * McGowan Woods and Meadow * McLean Bogs a National Natural Landmark containing two small
kettle bog A kettle (also known as a kettle lake, kettle hole, or pothole) is a depression/hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating gla ...
s located in Dryden,
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. * Mitchell Street Natural Areas – examples of abandoned agricultural land. * Monkey Run * Mount Pleasant * Mundy Wildflower Garden * North Campus Natural Areas * Park Park – Forest Home Drive near New York Route 366 * Polson Natural Area * Purvis Road Natural Areas – * Renwick Slope * Slaterville 600 – that includes the Slaterville Wildflower Preserve and old growth forest, given to the university by the Lloyd Library and Museum under condition that it remain forever wild. * Slim Jim Woods – borders the arboretum. * Steep Hollow Creek * The Tarr-Young Preserve * Turkey Hill Road Meadow * Upper Cascadilla * Warren Woods –


Academic role

Typically the Plantations' Director has been funded as a professor of Horticulture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, although 85 percent of the Plantations' budget has come from gifts. The Botanic Gardens continue to grow as it receives donations of environmentally sensitive land throughout New York State. , the Plantations had a $2.9 million annual operating budget. In conjunction with the Department of Horticulture in the College of Agriculture, the Plantations has sponsored a Graduate Fellowship in Public Garden Leadership, where students earn a
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degree after a four-semester program. The program of study requires an internship, selection of a particular topic of interest, and completion of an action project. Numerous scientific papers have been published that relate to work done at the Plantations or written by academics affiliated with the Plantations. This includes a number of master's theses and
Ph.D. dissertation A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
s done by students. Students from local schools and
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s have also made use of the Plantations, as have
master gardener Master Gardener programs (also known as Extension Master Gardener Programs) are volunteer programs that train individuals in the science and art of gardening. These individuals pass on the information they learned during their training, as volu ...
s. The Plantations offers three courses for academic credit and a number of informal lectures and tours. Lab work is done at the Plantations by students taking other courses in various subjects, including geology courses in the interdisciplinary Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Indeed, the greater Plantations has a connection of some kind to over a hundred courses at Cornell. As one description stated, academic departments or individuals using the Plantations have included "geologists, archaeologists, physiologists, horticulturalists, artists, architects, and engineers." The Plantations' Director has also been responsible for summer session courses at the Plantations aimed towards alumni and horticultural enthusiasts. The Botanic Gardens operate side-by-side with Cornell's other programs. Cornell's academic buildings, which are owned by either the university or New York State (for statutory college buildings), are on a landscaped campus with Plantations' gardens interspersed among them; the Plantations maintains four such gardens on Cornell's central campus. In addition, the College of Agriculture operates the Arnot Woods as a teaching forest, about southwest of Ithaca; it was given to the university in 1927. Near the Plantations, the College operates the Dilmun Hill Student Farm, which practices sustainable agriculture. The College operates Campus Area Farms that comprise 11 different farms and on campus and nearby. The difference between the Plantations and these other adjacent properties is that the Plantations are open to the public and are designed for both instruction as well as leisure, while the other properties are closed to the general public and focused upon teaching and research. Aside from physical proximity, the Plantations has affiliations with a number of Cornell academic departments. In fact, during the latter part of the 20th century, public gardens attached to colleges and universities such as the Plantations became a popular trend, due to the beneficial effects they had on campus unity and recruitment of students, creating bonds with and outreach to the local community, and providing a basis for ongoing research as well as establishing a living museum. The Plantations earned a relatively brief mention as a campus diversion in the 112-page ''Cornell Desk Book'' publication of 1972 aimed at incoming students. ''
The Cornell Daily Sun ''The Cornell Daily Sun'' is an independent daily newspaper published in Ithaca, New York by students at Cornell University and hired employees. ''The Sun'' features coverage of the university and its environs as well as stories from the Associa ...
'' listed it in 2010 as one of the natural wonders of the Cornell and Ithaca areas that students frequently went past, or lived near to, without noticing. A 1973 survey of public arboreta by ''
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'' listed the Plantations as one of the 17 best in the Eastern U.S. for educational value. The same paper characterized the Robison Herb Garden as "a student's living reference library" when it opened in 1974. The 200-page volume ''The Cornell Plantations'', written by Ralph S. Hosmer, was published by the university in 1947, shortly after the gardens were so named. A film ''Cornell Plantations'' was made during 1974–1975 and shown on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
in Connecticut and elsewhere. In 1987, the Plantations released a VHS video entitled ''A Year in the Garden'', which showed seasonal changes in the F. R. Newman Arboretum and along the trails. ''The New York Times'' called the effort "thin" and best suited for Cornell alumni. The university published the volume ''Cornell Plantations Path Guide: The Gardens, Gorges, Landscapes, and Lore of Cornell'' in 1995, and a 172-page second edition was published with a slightly altered title in 2002. Working with the
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and the
Center for Plant Conservation The Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) is a not-for-profit organization consisting of a network with more than 50 institutions. The mission is to conserve and restore the rare native plants of the United States and Canada. CPC represents a netwo ...
, the Plantations are trying to restore the regional population of the American globeflower (''Trollius laxus''). The Plantations are trying to use predatory beetles (''Laricobius nigrinus'') to control the spread of the hemlock wooly adelgid (HWA).


Events and visiting

The Plantations are open daily without charge from dawn to dusk. From the campus, one walks out Forest Home Drive past the College of Agriculture quadrangle; the nearest highway is
New York State Route 366 New York State Route 366 (NY 366) is an east–west state highway located entirely within Tompkins County in the Finger Lakes region of New York in the United States. It runs for from State Street ( NY 79) just east of downtown ...
. Walk-up tours are offered twice a week. Adult volunteers also serve as stewards, tour guides and special event staff. Such docents are challenged by the large variety of plants; one joked in 2010 that, "The ones I don’t know the name of, I call ''Species Nocluesem''." ''The New York Times'' has recommended Cornell Plantations as a place to visit several times, calling it "a satisfying experience" in 1965, one of the sights of Cornell in 1979, a destination along a bicycling tour in 1985, "another free diversion" in 1989, and "one last outing before leaving thaca in 2002. ''
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'' recommended the Plantations in 2000 as a "free to the public museum of living plants". In 2007, ''
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'' referred to it as "one of the area's gems" and three years later said it "combines the best of walking with the eye appeal of well tended gardens". ''
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'' portrayed the Plantations in 2010 as one of the places that made Cornell worth a vacation for non-students. ''
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'''s 1998 guide to the 300 best public gardens in North America has an entry for the Plantations. The
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's New York
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lists the Plantations as one of five arboreta and sixty gardens in the state; it does not get the "GEM" rating that one of the arboreta and ten of the gardens receive. Fodor's travel book for New York State lists the Plantations as an ordinary entry and says the gardens have "interesting cold-weather colors and textures". The
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volume for the state also lists it as a regular entry, without much commentary, as does the Great Destinations series ''The Finger Lakes Book''. The Fun with the Family ''Upstate New York'' volume groups it with several other sights as "a real bargain" to explore for free. Most enthusiastic is the
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travel guide for New York State, which rates the Plantations as a one-star ("highly recommended") sight, saying the Plantations is "a real find and well worth a visit for garden lovers or anyone seeking a bit of solace." The herb garden and knoll of rhododendrons come in for particular praise. The Plantations provide a venue for a number of annual activities, including a "Fall In" festival, a celebration of Arbor Day and the Cornell Reunion 5 Mile Run. The Plantations is one of eight cultural and educational sites on the Ithaca Discovery Trail network. The Friends of the Gorges is a Cornell student organization, supported by Cornell Plantations, that performs trail repair and maintenance and clean-ups.


See also

*
List of botanical gardens in the United States This list is intended to include all significant botanical gardens and arboretums in the United States.North American Plant Collections Consortium The Plant Collections Network (PCN) (formerly the North American Plant Collections Consortium) is a group of North American botanical gardens and arboreta that coordinates a continent-wide approach to plant germplasm preservation, and promotes excel ...


References

;Citations ;General references for the lists in the "Current extent" section
F.R. Newman ArboretumBotanical GardenOur Natural Areas


External links


Cornell Botanic Gardens

2009 Plantations Annual Report
{{Coord, 42, 26, 58, N, 76, 28, 20, W, type:landmark_region:US-NY, display=title Arboreta in New York (state) Botanical gardens in New York (state)
Plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
Herbaria in the United States Parks in Tompkins County, New York Protected areas of Tompkins County, New York Tourist attractions in Ithaca, New York Civilian Conservation Corps in New York (state) 1875 establishments in New York (state) Protected areas established in 1875