The Oak Collection at the Arnold Arboretum in autumn.

Occupying more than 265 acres along the Arborway in Boston's Jamaica Plain section, the Arnold Arboretum is the nation's oldest arboretum. It is part of the Emerald Necklace of Boston parks designed in the late 19th century by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

Since its founding in 1872, the Arboretum has become a major international center for plant research. Its living collections contain some 14,000 woody plants representing nearly 5,000 botanical classifications, and its 4.8 million dried specimens have become critical tools in tropical rain-forest studies. Arboretum holdings in Asian botany rank among the world's finest and most extensive.

The Arboretum Library contains a wide range of archival materials, journals, and books in forestry, horticulture, and botany.

In addition to its ongoing scientific research, the Arboretum has long supported various public programs. The major components are:

Professional Education

• The Landscape Institute, offering a certificate program for professionals interested in landscape design, landscape preservation, and landscape design history.
• The Isabella Welles Hunnewell Internship Program, a 12- to 24-week summer training program in horticultural maintenance, propagation, and curation.

Continuing Adult Education

• Low-cost, one-day and multisession courses in horticulture and botany, usually in the evenings or on weekends.
• Course offerings available in the Arboretum's free, semi-annual news magazine, Silva.

Children's Education

• A Field Studies program, serving students in grades 3 to 6, fosters hands-on investigation of plant science in the meadows and woodlands of the Arnold Arboretum.

Membership

• Starts at $35 a year (about 3,000 members).
• Benefits include four issues of Arnoldia, the Arboretum journal of botany, horticulture, and conservation; an annual fall plant sale; and reciprocal admission at over 100 botanical gardens nationwide.

Visitor Center

• Open 9 AM - 4 PM weekdays, 10 AM - 4 PM Saturdays, and Noon - 4 PM Sundays. Closed holidays.
• Services include visitor assistance, bookstore, maps and self-guided tours, and restrooms facilities.
• Free walking tours are schedules throughout the year, and private group tours may also be reserved in advance. For more information, please call 617.524.1718 x 100.

Arboretum Main Telephone (617) 524-1718

• Children's Program Guide Training ext. 163
• Docent Training ext. 125
• Visitor Services ext. 100
• Membership ext. 143

Important e-mail and Web addresses

• Director (Bob Cook)
  robert_cook@harvard.edu
• Children's Program (Nancy Sableski)
  nancy_sableski@harvard.edu
• Adult Education (Pam Thompson)
  pam_thompson@harvard.edu
• Library (Sheila Connor)
  sheila_connor@harvard.edu
• Membership (Ronda Brands)
  ronda_brands@harvard.edu
• Web Page: http://www.arboretum.harvard.edu

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