Pine Tree State Arboretum
Encyclopedia
The Viles Arboretum 224 acres (90.6 hectares) is a botanical garden
and arboretum
located at 153 Hospital Street, Augusta, Maine
, USA
, with 5 miles (8 km) of trails, open year round without charge. The plant collection contains over 300 species or varieties of trees and shrubs. The forested portion of the Arboretum is a certified Tree Farm Demonstration Area containing many of Maine
's native trees.
The Arboretum's principal tree collections and gardens are as follows:
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
and 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...
located at 153 Hospital Street, Augusta, Maine
Augusta, Maine
Augusta is the capital of the US state of Maine, county seat of Kennebec County, and center of population for Maine. The city's population was 19,136 at the 2010 census, making it the third-smallest state capital after Montpelier, Vermont and Pierre, South Dakota...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with 5 miles (8 km) of trails, open year round without charge. The plant collection contains over 300 species or varieties of trees and shrubs. The forested portion of the Arboretum is a certified Tree Farm Demonstration Area containing many of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
's native trees.
The Arboretum's principal tree collections and gardens are as follows:
- Urban & Community Forestry Demonstration Area — The Arboretum's largest collection; over six dozen specimens chosen for their durability in the urban environment.
- Conifer Collection — North American varieties chosen for interesting characteristics (like the weeping white pine), and other species from around the world.
- Governors Grove — Over 60 Eastern White PineEastern White PinePinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...
, Maine's state tree, each planted in honor of one of Maine's governorsGovernor of MaineThe governor of Maine is the chief executive of the State of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive....
and labeled with his name and dates in office.
- ChestnutChestnutChestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...
Collection — A display of the American chestnutAmerican ChestnutThe American Chestnut is a large, deciduous tree of the beech family native to eastern North America. Before the species was devastated by the chestnut blight, a fungal disease, it was one of the most important forest trees throughout its range...
and its close relatives. With help from The American Chestnut FoundationThe American Chestnut FoundationThe American Chestnut Foundation is a nonprofit American organization dedicated to breeding a blight-resistant American chestnut tree and the reintroduction of this tree to the forests of the Eastern United States....
, the Arboretum is developing a Chestnut Plantation with seedlings representing all of Maine's surviving American Chestnuts.
- Daughters of the American RevolutionDaughters of the American RevolutionThe Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....
Historical Gardens — Chosen for aesthetic, medicinal, culinary and home-use qualities, these flowers, herbs and shrubs would have been found in gardens around the time of the American Revolution.
- LilacLilacSyringa 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....
Collection — A collection of lilac varieties blooming white, pink and purple in May.
- HostaHostaHosta is a genus of about 23–45 species of lily-like plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae, native to northeast Asia. They have been placed in their own family, Hostaceae ; like many 'lilioid monocots', they were once classified in the Liliaceae...
Garden — Winding through the shade of a white birchBirchBirch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
grove, this collection of hosta varieties, one of the largest in Maine, was donated by the Case Estate of the Arnold Arboretum in Massachusetts.
- Native Plant Garden — This newest garden has been incorporated into the landscaping for the new Education Wing of the Viles Visitors Center. It features native plants that are readily available from Maine garden centers and nurseries and encourages visitors to consider using more native plants in their home landscape and avoid using non-native plants that may escape into the wild.