Vanderbilt University Arboretum

Magnolia x soulangiana near Kirkland hall

Magnolia x soulangiana (saucer magnolia)

http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/baskauf/50734

Some facts about the arboretum:
- In 2010 the Vanderbilt campus contained 5625 identified and geolocated trees and shrubs.
- There are approximately 170 species of trees and shrubs in the arboretum. A common urban legend says that the arboretum contains every species of tree in Tennessee. That is undoubtedly NOT true, although most of the common native trees are present on campus.
- Vanderbilt was first referred to as an arboretum in May 1879, only six years after the university was founded ("Catalogue of the Species and Varieties of Plants in the Vanderbilt Arboretum", Vanderbilt University Archives).
- The most common tree species on campus is Acer saccharum (sugar maple) with 488 representatives, followed closely by Magnolia grandiflora (southern magnolia) with 486. The two hackberry (Celtis) species on campus commonly hybridize in the Nashville area, making it virtually impossible to identify them to species. The total number of northern hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), sugarberry (Celtis laevigata), and unidentified hackberries (Celtis spp.) is 482, making "hackberry" the third most common recognizable tree on campus.
- The symbol of Vanderbilt is the white oak tree (Quercus alba). However there are only 54 white oak trees on campus, putting it in third place among the oaks at Vanderbilt (after 132 willow oaks - Quercus phellos and 95 pin oaks - Quercus palustris). There are a total of 16 species of oaks (Quercus) present on campus - the most well-represented genus in the arboretum.
- In 1988 the campus was registered with the American Public Gardens Association (APGA). However, there are no official requirements for arboretum status.
- The arboretum contains three Tennessee state champion trees (Japanese zelkova, green hawthorn, and hedge maple). There are also several former state champion trees.

Some tree species represented in the Vanderbilt Arboretum

(portable device-friendly)

Click here to go to the Vanderbilt Arboretum tree tours (not portable device-friendly yet).

Noteworthy trees

(portable device-friendly pages, use QR-code to load the URI)

The Bicentennial Oak

Globally unique identifier: http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbilt/7-314

The Tennessee state champion Japanese Zelkova tree

Globally unique identifier: http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbilt/4-145

The Vanderbilt Arboretum has the Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) http://biocol.org/urn:lsid:biocol.org:col:35259

Please direct official inquiries about the arboretum to Pam Sevy.

Please address questions about this web page, the online campus tree tour, or the Bioimages website to Steve Baskauf.