The Mountain Top Arboretum (4 ha / 10 acres), located in Tannersville, New York

Tannersville, New York

Tannersville is a village in Greene County, New York, USA. The village is in the east-central part of the town of Hunter on Route 23A. The population was 539 at the 2010 census.- History :...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 is 760 m (2500 ft) above sea level in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

's Catskill Mountains

Catskill Mountains

The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...

.

The Arboretum began in 1977 when Dr. and Mrs. E. H. Ahrens, Jr. planted part of their property as an arboretum and donated it to The Mountain Top Arboretum, Inc., incorporated in 1977 and declared tax exempt in 1979. Plantings of unusual and exotic trees and shrubs began in 1981.

The Arboretum currently contains 50 species of conifers, and many species of oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

, maple

Maple

Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...

, rowan

Rowan

The rowans or mountain-ashes are shrubs or small trees in genus Sorbus of family Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the mountains of western China and the Himalaya, where numerous apomictic microspecies...

, hawthorn

Crataegus

Crataegus , commonly called hawthorn or thornapple, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia and North America. The name hawthorn was originally applied to the species native to northern Europe,...

, Rhododendron

Rhododendron

Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...

, Kalmia

Kalmia

Kalmia is a genus of about 8 species of evergreen shrubs from 0.2–5 m tall, in the family Ericaceae. They are native to North America and Cuba. They grow in acidic soils, with different species in wet acid bog habitats and dry, sandy soils Kalmia is a genus of about 8 species of evergreen shrubs...

, and wildflowers. Other plantings include Turkish Fir, weeping katsura, Japanese Larch

Larch

Larches are conifers in the genus Larix, in the family Pinaceae. Growing from 15 to 50m tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains further south...

, Dawn Redwood, Bald cypress

Taxodium

Taxodium is a genus of one to three species of extremely flood-tolerant conifers in the cypress family, Cupressaceae...

, Incense-cedar, Rocky Mountains Bristlecone Pine

Rocky Mountains Bristlecone Pine

Pinus aristata, the Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pine, is a species of pine native to the United States. It appears in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and northern New Mexico, with an isolated population in the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona...

, goldenseal

Goldenseal

Goldenseal is a perennial herb in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States. It may be distinguished by its thick, yellow knotted rootstock. The stem is purplish and hairy above ground and yellow below ground where it connects to the...

, ginseng

Ginseng

Ginseng is any one of eleven species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae....

, maidenhair fern

Maidenhair fern

Adiantum , the maidenhair ferns, is a genus of about 200 species of ferns in the family Pteridaceae, though some researchers place it in its own family, Adiantaceae...

, Hepatica

Hepatica

Hepatica is a genus of herbaceous perennials in the buttercup family, native to central and northern Europe, Asia and eastern North America...

, blue cohosh

Blue Cohosh

Blue cohosh a species of Caulophyllum and family Berberidaceae, also called squaw root or papoose root, is a flowering plant in the Berberidaceae family...

, flowering crabapple

Crabapple

Crabapple is a term used for several species of Malus in the family Rosaceae, which are characterized by small sour fruit resembling familiar table apples . They are usually small trees or shrubs....

s, fantail pussy willow

Pussy Willow

Pussy willow is a name given to many of the smaller species of the genus Salix when their furry catkins are young in early spring...

s, ash

Ash tree

Fraxinus is a genus flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45-65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The tree's common English name, ash, goes back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name...

, viburnum

Viburnum

Viburnum is a genus of about 150–175 species of shrubs or small trees in the moschatel family, Adoxaceae. Its current classification is based on molecular phylogeny...

, lilac

Lilac

Syringa is a genus of about 20–25 species of flowering woody plants in the olive family , native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and widely and commonly cultivated in temperate areas elsewhere....

, fringe tree, Fothergilla

Fothergilla

Fothergilla is a genus of two or three species of flowering plants in the family Hamamelidaceae, native to the southeastern United States.They are deciduous shrubs growing to 1–3 m tall with downy twigs...

, daylilies

Daylily

Daylily is the general nonscientific name of a species, hybrid or cultivar of the genus Hemerocallis . Daylily cultivar flowers are highly diverse in colour and form, as a result of hybridization efforts of gardening enthusiasts and professional horticulturalists...

, Clethra

Clethra

Clethra is a genus of between 30-70 species of flowering shrubs or small trees. It is one of two genera in the family Clethraceae...

, Stewartia, bottlebrush buckeye

Aesculus

The genus Aesculus comprises 13-19 species of woody trees and shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere, with 6 species native to North America and 7-13 species native to Eurasia; there are also several hybrids. Species are deciduous or evergreen...

, American holly

American Holly

Ilex opaca, the American Holly, is a species of holly, native to the eastern United States, from coastal Massachusetts south to central Florida, and west to southeastern Missouri and eastern Texas.-Description:...

, beech

Beech

Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...

es and bayberry.