Connecticut College Arboretum

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The "grass ramp" from the entrance to the lilly pond

The Connecticut College Arboretum is a 300 ha (750 acres) arboretum and botanical gardens, founded in 1931, and located on the campus of Connecticut College and in the towns of New London and Waterford, Connecticut, USA. Arboretum collections are: the Native Plant Collection, the Caroline Black Garden, the Connecticut College Campus, and the Greenhouse.

The Native Plant Collection of 8 ha (20 acres) was established in 1931, and displays trees and shrubs native to eastern North America and hardy in New London. It contains 288 taxa, including trees, shrubs, and woody vines indigenous to the forested region of Eastern North America, such as shadbush, dogwood, azaleas, mountain laurel, giant rhododendron, sourwood, sweet pepperbush, and evergreens and conifers. Of particular interest are:

The Lincoln and Lillian Dauby Gries Conifer Collection (est. 1988), featuring 1.2 ha (3 acres) of conifers: firs, spruces, hemlocks, junipers, pines, etc., and a variety of native shrubs.

The Nancy Moss Fine Native Azalea Garden (est. 1978), featurning 15 species and natural hybrid Azaleas (Rhododendron spp.).

The Josephine Hooker Shain Mountain Laurel Garden (est. 1985), featuring cultivars of mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), many of which are the work of Dr. Richard Jaynes.

The Edgerton and Stengel Wildflower Gardens (est. 1956), featuring 0.8 ha (2 acres) of ferns and wildflowers such as trillium (Trillium spp.), Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis), and Turtlehead (Chelone spp.).

The Caroline Black Garden contains a mature collection of ornamental trees, shrubs, and grasses from across the world, including 187 different woody taxa such as azaleas, Crimson Queen Japanese Maple, Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), Japanese Stuartia, fragrant viburnum, weeping cherry, and many other specimens.

The Connecticut College Campus currently has 223 taxa of trees and numerous shrubs, and includes the Franklin Tree, Japanese Pagoda Tree, seven-son flower, and Chinese witch-hazel.

The 280 m² (3,000 square foot) Greenhouse includes a tropical house, a cactus collection, and an experimentation area.