The Sehome Hill Arboretum is a public park in the Sehome neighborhood of Bellingham,
Washington
Washington most commonly refers to:
* George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States
* Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A ...
. It comprises of second growth forest on Sehome Hill, adjacent to the campus of
Western Washington University
Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...
. Though called an arboretum, the hilly expanse atop Sehome Hill is not consciously planted as an exhibit of tree species, but naturally wooded and rich in the plant species (both native and nonnative) typical of the region. The arboretum is jointly managed by both the university and the city. Its care is overseen by the Sehome Hill Arboretum Board of Governors, composed of city employees, university employees, university students, and city residents. The park offers students and city dwellers over 5 miles (8 km) of public trails for walking and running and, in some areas, bicycling. Unique features of the park include an wooden observation tower atop Sehome Hill, with aerial views of
Bellingham Bay
Bellingham Bay is a bay of the Salish Sea located in Washington State in the United States. It is separated from the Strait of Georgia on the west by the Lummi Peninsula, Portage Island, and Lummi Island. It is bordered on the east by Bellingh ...
to the south. There is also a large tunnel, hand cut into rock in 1923, originally used for car traffic in the early 1900s. Its tall, thin shape shows its creation for cars like Model T Fords of the day. Cars are no longer allowed in the tunnel and it is part of a trail along which hikers can walk.
History
In the 1850s, coal-mining claims were made on Sehome Hill and two coal scouts named Henry Hewitt and William Brown who were working for Henry Roeder's lumber mill found coal. The Bellingham Bay Coal Company was founded and began work in 1855. Tunnels are said to be laced through Sehome Arboretum but their exact locations and the tunnel's entrances are no longer known. Logging has taken place in the arboretum since the 1800s with operations ongoing as recently as 1906. The land became a park 1922 and an arboretum in 1974, with the closure of most of the park to automobiles.
Native plants
The Arboretum contains the following plant species:
Trees
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Douglas Fir
The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...
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Western Hemlock
''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the northwest coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern ...
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Western Redcedar
''Thuja plicata'' is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the family Cupressaceae, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. Its common name is western redcedar in the U.S. or western red cedar in the UK, and it is also called pacific re ...
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Alder
Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...
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Bigleaf Maple
''Acer macrophyllum'', the bigleaf maple or Oregon maple, is a large deciduous tree in the genus '' Acer''. It is native to western North America. In addition to uses by animals, it is of some culinary and woodworking interest.
Description
Big ...
Shrubs
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Oregon-grape
''Berberis aquifolium'', the Oregon grape or holly-leaved barberry, is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae. It is an evergreen shrub growing up to tall and wide, with pinnate leaves consisting of spiny leafle ...
Snowberry
''Symphoricarpos'' is a small genus of about 15 species of deciduous shrubs in the family Caprifoliaceae. With the exception of the Chinese coralberry, ''Symphoricarpos sinensis, S. sinensis'', which is indigenous to western China, all species a ...
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Oceanspray
''Holodiscus discolor'', commonly known as ocean spray or oceanspray, creambush, or ironwood, is a shrub of western North America.
Description
''Holodiscus discolor'' is a fast-growing deciduous shrub usually from to in width, and up to tal ...
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Salal
''Gaultheria shallon'' is an evergreen shrub in the heather family (Ericaceae), native to western North America. Common names include salal (), shallon, or (mainly in Britain) gaultheria.
Description
''Gaultheria shallon'' is tall, sprawli ...
Red Huckleberry
''Vaccinium parvifolium'', the red huckleberry, is a species of ''Vaccinium'' native to western North America.
Description
It is a deciduous shrub growing to tall with bright green shoots with an angular cross-section. The leaves are ovate to o ...
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Saskatoon
Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...
*
Thimbleberry
''Rubus parviflorus'', the fruit of which is commonly called the thimbleberry or redcap, is a species of ''Rubus'' with large hairy leaves and no thorns.
The species is native to northern temperate regions of North America. It produces red ag ...
Invasive plants
A number of invasive plants grow inside the arboretum, including:
*
English Ivy
''Hedera helix'', the common ivy, European ivy, King's Choice ivy, or just ivy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Araliaceae. It is native to most of Europe and parts of western Asia. Ivy is a clinging evergreen vine that grows on t ...
*
Vinca
''Vinca'' (; Latin: ''vincire'' "to bind, fetter") is an Old World genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, The English name periwinkle is shared with the related genus '' Catharanthus'' (and with the mollusc '' Littorina littorea'') ...
sp.
*Variegated
Yellow Archangel
''Lamiastrum galeobdolon'', the yellow archangel, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family (biology), family Lamiaceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia but it is widely introduced in North America and elsewhere. It is the only s ...