The Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...

, contains 93 acres of parkland, gardens, landscapes, and hiking trails that focus on the regional plants, ecology and character of Southwestern New England. The Arboretum is open and accessible to the public every day of the year and is located at 151 Brookdale Road. The

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

of the Bartlett Arboretum is a collection of over 3500 specimens. While most specimens are from the Northeastern United States, the collection also houses material from the Southeastern United States and Adjacent Mexico (200), the Caribbean (100), Amazonian Peru (150), the former Soviet Union (200), and Africa (100). This collection includes approximately 2,500 species of

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignin, lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified Ti ...

s, and 1,000 species of

bryophyte Bryophytes () are a group of embryophyte, land plants (embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic Division (taxonomy), division referred to as Bryophyta ''Sensu#Common qualifiers, sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular pla ...

. The collection currently houses one type specimen.

History

The Arboretum started in 1913, when Dr. Francis A. Bartlett, an eminent dendrologist and founder of the F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Company, acquired "30 acres 2 hectaresmore or less" of North Stamford woodland to use as his residence, training school and research laboratory for his company. Over the years, he assembled a large number of plant specimens on the property from all over the world. In 1965, when the research laboratory moved to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, the Stamford site, then covering more than 60 acres (24 hectares), was purchased by the State of Connecticut and designated the Connecticut State Arboretum. In 1993, the land and overall operation of the Arboretum were transferred to the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

at Stamford. In 2001, the land was transferred to the City of Stamford and operations were transferred to the Bartlett Arboretum Association, an independent non-profit organization. The Bartlett Arboretum Association continues to operate the grounds today. In 2006, the Arboretum began numerous research programs, continuing the tradition of research begun by Bartlett nearly a century earlier. Current research focuses on local plant ecology such as floristics and herbivory responses of Connecticut Forests, and the ecology and evolution of tropical plants, particularly the Araceae. This work has led to several published research papers by staff in the past few years.

Collections

The Arboretum contains the following collections: * The Conifer Garden is a collection of conifers, including:

Tsuga ''Tsuga'' (, from Japanese (), the name of '' Tsuga sieboldii'') is a genus of conifers in the subfamily Abietoideae of Pinaceae, the pine family. The English-language common name "hemlock" arose from a perceived similarity in the smell of it ...

(hemlock),

Pinus 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. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as c ...

(pine),

Picea A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' is the sole genus ...

(spruce),

Abies Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

(fir),

Thuja ''Thuja'' ( ) is a genus of coniferous tree or shrub in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are five species in the genus, two native to North America and three native to eastern Asia. The genus is monophyletic and sister to ''Thujopsis''. M ...

(arborvitae),

Chamaecyparis ''Chamaecyparis'', common names cypress or false cypress (to distinguish it from related cypresses), is a genus of conifers in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to eastern Asia (Japan and Taiwan) and to the western and eastern margins o ...

(false cypress),

Juniperus Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

(juniper),

Cryptomeria ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' L.f.). It is considered to be endemic to Japan, ...

(Japanese temple pine) and

Taxus ''Taxus'' is a genus of coniferous trees or shrubs known as yews in the family Taxaceae. Yews occur around the globe in temperate zones of the northern hemisphere, northernmost in Norway and southernmost in the South Celebes. Some populations ex ...

(yew). * The Mehlquist Garden is a unique collection of

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

s and

Azalea Azaleas ( ) are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Rhododendron sect. Tsutsusi, Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and ''Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate ...

s of native, Japanese, Korean and European origins: established by Dr. Gustav A.L. Mehlquist, Professor Emeritus of Plant Science at the University of Connecticut. * The Nut Tree Collection is a grove planted by Francis Bartlett which includes ''Carya illinoinensis'' (

pecan The pecan ( , , ; ''Carya illinoinensis'') is a species of hickory native to the Southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed primarily in the U.S. states of Georgia ( ...

s), ''Juglans'' sp. (

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

s), heartnuts, filberts,

hican A hican is a tree resulting from a cross between a pecan and some other type of hickory (members of the genus '' Carya'') - or the nut from such a hybrid tree. Such crosses often occur naturally while most such hybrids produce unfilled nuts or h ...

s, and a hardy

Chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

hybrid. * The Pollarded Tree Display features

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

trees kept compact by means of a special pruning technique called pollarding. * The newly added Magnolia Collection is an area planted along the entrance roadway which contains numerous species including, but not limited to ''Magnolia tripetala'', ''M. acuminata'', ''M. sieboldii'' and'' M. virginiana'' * The

Theaceae Theaceae (), the tea family, is a family of flowering plants comprising shrubs and trees, including the economically important tea plant, and the ornamental camellias. It can be described as having from seven to 40 genera, depending on the sour ...

collection, added in 2007, contains numerous species of the Tea family including Camellias, Gordonias, Franklinias, and Stewartias.

Habitats

* The Arboretum’s meadow is a managed habitat. During the early twentieth century, abandoned farm fields became wildflower meadows rich in birds, bees, and butterflies. When tree seedlings in these meadows grew into forests, the wildflower meadows and wildlife that depended on them became scarce. The Arboretum established this meadow in 2000 as an example of a sustainable landscape that provides needed habitat and esthetic beauty. Depending on the time of year, wildflowers such as ''

Coreopsis ''Coreopsis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Common names include calliopsis and tickseed, a name shared with various tickseed, other plants. Description These plants range from in height. The flowers are usually ye ...

'', Black-eyed Susan (''

Rudbeckia hirta ''Rudbeckia hirta'', commonly called black-eyed Susan, is a North American flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It grows to tall with daisy-like yellow flower heads. There are numerous cultivars. It is toxic when ingested by cats, but was us ...

''), Beard-tongue (''

Penstemon digitalis ''Penstemon digitalis'' (known by the common names foxglove beard-tongue,Dickinson, T.; Metsger, D.; Bull, J.; & Dickinson, R. (2004). ''ROM Field Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario.'' Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, p. 332. foxglove beardtongue, t ...

''), Goblet Aster ('' Aster lateriflorus''), Blue-eyed Grass (''

Sisyrinchium bellum ''Sisyrinchium bellum'', the western blue-eyed grass or Californian blue-eyed grass, is the common blue-eyed grass of California and Oregon in and west of the Sierra Nevada, its range extending south into Baja California. In parts of its range ...

''), Lupine (''

Lupinus ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet, is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centre of diversity, centres of diversity in North America, North and South A ...

'') and Spiderwort (''

Tradescantia ''Tradescantia'' () is a genus of 85 species of herbaceous perennial wildflowers in the family Commelinaceae, native to the Americas from southern Canada to northern Argentina, including the West Indies. Members of the genus are known by many com ...

'') may be seen. It is mowed annually in early April to prevent it from returning to forest. *The Woodland Pond was created by a dam where the water pauses before spilling over to Poorhouse Brook and running south to Long Island Sound. A pond is a water body small enough that its waves do not erode the soil on its banks and shallow enough for aquatic plants to root in the bottom and still reach the surface. In the summer the pond will have the round leaves and pale pink flowers of Pond Lilies (''

Nuphar advena ''Nuphar advena'' (spatterdock or cow lily or yellow pond-lily) is a species of ''Nuphar'' native throughout the eastern United States and in some parts of Canada, such as Nova Scotia, as well as Mexico and Cuba. It is locally naturalized in Brit ...

'') in the middle and the arrow-shaped leaves of Arrow Arum (''

Peltandra virginica ''Peltandra virginica'' is a plant of the arum family known as green arrow arum and tuckahoe. It is widely distributed in wetlands in the eastern United States, as well as in Quebec, Ontario, and Cuba.Whigham, Dennis F., Robert L. Simpson and Ma ...

'') around the edges. When the Arrow Arum flower has gone to seed the weight of the seeds bends the stalk over and it sinks into the muddy bottom; in this way the seeds plant themselves. * The Red Maple Wetland is a favorite spot for area naturalists and ecologists because it is one of the only accessible Red Maple swamps in the area not significantly affected by either development or non-native

invasive plants An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native species ...

History

Collections

Habitats

See also