The , also called the Kemigawa Arboretum, is a research and plant-breeding arboretum

Arboretum

An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...

 operated by the University of Tokyo

University of Tokyo

, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...

 Faculty of Agriculture, and located at Hata-machi 1051, Hanamigawa-ku, Chiba, Chiba

Chiba, Chiba

is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is located approximately 40 km east of the center of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay. Chiba City became a government designated city in 1992. Its population as of 2008 is approximately 960,000....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

The arboretum was established in 1965 as the Horticultural Experimental Station to collect and study garden and landscape plants, and to develop techniques for their cultivation, breeding, and use. In 1975 it evolved into the Experimental Station of Plants for Landscaping to reflect the importance of landscape plants in protecting the environment. In 1989 it received its present name.

The arboretum covers 47,031 m², and contains about 350 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 (500 varieties) of woody plants and flowers, with excellent collections of Camellia japonica

Camellia japonica

The Japanese Camellia is one of the best known species of camellia. Sometimes called the rose of winter, it is a member of the Theaceae family or tea family. It is a flowering shrub or a small tree native to Japan, Korea and China. It is the official state flower of Alabama.-Description:In the...

 (130 varieties), Camellia sasanqua

Camellia sasanqua

The Christmas Camellia is a species of Camellia native to the evergreen coastal forests of southern Japan in Shikoku, Kyūshū and many other minor islands as far south as Okinawa. It is usually found growing up to an altitude of 900 metres.It is an evergreen shrub growing to 5 m tall...

 (30 varieties), and flowering lotus (including 250 varieties of Nelumbo nucifera

Nelumbo nucifera

Nelumbo nucifera, known by a number of names including Indian Lotus, Sacred Lotus, Bean of India, or simply Lotus, is a plant in the monogeneric family Nelumbonaceae...

 and Nelumbo lutea

Nelumbo lutea

Nelumbo lutea is a species of flowering plant in the monogeneric family Nelumbonaceae. Common names include American lotus, yellow lotus, water-chinquapin, and volée. It is native to North America...

). The arboretum also contains other aquatic plant species, lawn grass varieties, and herbs, as well as a general arboretum, and two greenhouse

Greenhouse

A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...

s.