Collecting plants in a northern Borneo peat-swamp forest, John Burley, director of the Arnold Arboretum's research efforts in Indonesia, was trying to find and identify plants holding promise as potential pharmaceuticals in the treatment of cancer.

Burley first sampled in 1986 the leaves of a small tree he believed to belong to the genus Calophyllum. He sent a batch of leaf and twig material back to the National Cancer Institute in Maryland, which had given him a grant for the project. Burley then created a dried voucher specimen -- a sample of leaf and fruit material mounted on a herbarium sheet for future identification at the Arnold Arboretum. It would become known as Burley and Lee 351.

During the subsequent three years, extracts from the bulk material were sent to the National Cancer Institute. After running the materials against cancer screens, the scientists found they displayed little or no activity. However, when an extract was tested for its anti-AIDS properties, it proved to be 100 percent effective in halting the replication of the AIDS virus.

The researchers required new plant material to confirm their findings, but discovered that the original source tree in Borneo had been cut down, perhaps by local people seeking fuelwood. Samples of other plants in the vicinity failed to reproduce the anti-AIDS properties. Wondering whether their agents had re-collected the correct species, the National Cancer Institute turned to the Arnold Arboretum for help.

The world's expert on the genus Calophyllum is Professor of Biology Peter F. Stevens, a member of the Arnold Arboretum staff who also teaches botany to Harvard undergraduates.

Back in 1988, he had correctly identified the original specimen, Burley and Lee 351, as Calophyllum lanigerum, a relatively rare species in the Asian rainforests of Borneo. Three years later, at the request of the National Cancer Institute, he carefully examined all the re-collected material and discovered that, while it was very similar to Burley and Lee 351, it was in fact from a different species. Stevens then told the Institute they could find Calophyllum lanigerum growing in the Singapore Botanic Garden, where he had seen it on several occasions.

The Singapore plants were sampled and their extracts proved to have the desired high activity against the AIDS virus. Within a year, organic chemists had isolated the active compound from the species. Extensive testing followed and last month, calanolide A, the first naturally occurring plant compound to be developed as an AIDS treatment, entered into human clinical trials with HIV-positive patients.

Arnold Arboretum Director Robert E. Cook recounted this amazing tale at a June dinner celebrating the Arboretum's 125th anniversary. "It is fair to say that, without the Arnold Arboretum, the story of Calophyllum would not have happened."

International center for research and education

Although Charles Sprague Sargent, 1862, LLD '01 (hon.), and Frederick Law Olmsted, LLD 1893 (hon.), had grand hopes when they began the planning and design of the 265-acre Arnold Arboretum in 1872, they might not have anticipated its extraordinary growth into an international center for scientific study and learning.

The Arboretum's Living Collections features more than 15,000 woody plants, including bonsai trees from Japan and China, roses from all four subfamilies of the genus, Asiatic trees and shrubs, and, of course, the famous lilacs. More than 1,000 new plants have been added to the permanent collection in the past three years.

As Cook's story amply demonstrates, the Arboretum's team of researchers is active around the world. Currently in Indonesia, a group of researchers is in the midst of a major botanical inventory project in a region with extremely rich and diverse natural ecosystems, but where large portions of the flora and fauna have not been scientifically documented.

Locally, the Arboretum is appreciated by more than 200,000 visitors annually. Over 3,000 Boston schoolchildren visit the Arboretum through the Field Studies program and Arboretum staff conduct extensive teacher training in children's science education. Finally, popular programs in botany and horticulture draw nearly 2,000 adults each year.

Campaign launched

Cook remarked that Charles Sprague Sargent's vision reflected "a belief in the importance of research, a conviction that education of the public will shape our future, and a commitment to quality of the highest order."

David B. Stone '50, MBA '52, who co-chairs the Arboretum's director's advisory board with Ellen West (Westy) Lovejoy, noted that the Arboretum is a National Historical Landmark and a premier part of Boston's Emerald Necklace of public parks. "This is an institution of remarkable achievement, enjoying a renowned national and international reputation, and with a vibrant future."

Campaign Chair Francis O. Hunnewell '60, MBA '65, then announced the launching of an $8.2 million campaign to underpin the institution's world-renowned educational and research programs.

According to Hunnewell, the Arboretum requires endowment funds for its children's science education programs, the curatorship and development of its Living Collections, research in botanical inventory and biodiversity conservation in Asia, and research fellowships.

Another campaign priority is capital improvements ranging from the restoration of Peters Hill Summit to the creation of a sun-adapted shrub and vine garden and the development of Stony Brook Marsh.

Speaking at the June dinner, President Neil L. Rudenstine underscored the campaign's priorities, while reflecting on the Arboretum's significance to the University and the larger community. As a graduate student in English literature, Rudenstine reminisced, he spent most of his hours "pillaging, plundering, and sometimes simply wandering among the stacks of Widener Library." But then he discovered the Arnold Arboretum, which provided him with "periodic infusions of pure elixir -- air, light, space, walkways, and endlessly variegated palettes of greens and other colors."

The campaign, Rudenstine said, aims to "sustain the Arboretum and its programs at the level of excellence they have long aspired to and met. It will sustain the Arboretum's vital educational efforts for both children and adults. And it will contribute directly not only to the understanding of our natural surroundings close to home but also to research on important questions of biodiversity abroad, and to the larger goal of environmental protection.

"The cause could not be better," Rudenstine said, "because the Arboretum touches on so many different aspects of our lives: natural beauty; the beauty of design; the process of teaching and learning; the discovery of new knowledge, driven by deep curiosity about the natural world; and the effort to improve the environment we live in."

Friends and admirers of the Arboretum already have given $3.8 million toward the campaign goal. Cook hopes to complete the drive when The University Campaign concludes in December 1999.