Plants

• Plant Inventory
• Hotline
• Order of Bloom
• Featured Plants
  • Current Plant Highlights
  • Bonsai
  • Centenarians
  • Conifers
  • Lilacs
  • Rosaceous Plants
  • Shrub and Vine Garden
  • Tree Basics
• Collections Management
  • Availability of Resarch and Propagation Materials
  • Plant Labels, Mapping, & Records
  • Grounds Maintenance & Planting Sequence
  • Propagation & Distribution
  • Herbaria
  • Collections Policy
  • Institutional Collaborations

See Also

• Plant Locations Key
• Herbarium

Plant Labels, Mapping, & Records

Labels

Plants in our collections are labeled with two anodized aluminum labels that are embossed with its accession number, botanical name, family, provenance data, and/or lineage number, and frequently, means of propagation and location on the Arboretum grounds. Letter designations are appended to the accession number to identify individuals of a particular accession. Trunk and/or display labels are also hung on many accessions and include botanical and common names and nativity. Stake labels are used to interpret plant collections in the Leventritt Garden, along Chinese Path in the Explorers Garden, and Hunnewell building areas.

How to read a plant label

Nomenclature: Trademarks, Registered Trademarks, & Cultivars

Plants of cultivated origin are labeled as follows

• Syringa 'Red Rothomagensis'; where Red Rothamagensis is a cultivar name
• Ulmus 'Morton Salwart' COMMENDATION™ ; where COMMENDATION is a trademark
• Hydrangea arborescens 'Dardom' WHITE DOME®; where WHITE DOME is a registered trademark

Glossary

• Cultivar. An assemblage of plants that has been selected for a particular attribute or combination of attributes and that is clearly distinct, uniform, and stable in these characteristics and that when propagated by appropriate means retains those characteristics.
• Trademark. Any sign, usually made from words, letters, or other devices that individualizes the goods of a given enterprise and distinguishes them from the goods of its competitors.
• Registered Trademark. A trademark that has been formally accepted by a statutory trademark authority, distinguished by the international symbol ®. Registered trademark names are valid for 10 years in the United States, but may be renewed indefinitely.

Mapping

Maps of the location of each plant in the collection have been maintained since 1938 when Leon Croizat surveyed the 265-acre Arboretum and divided the property into 74 quadrants each 400 by 600 feet. Efforts were begun in the mid-1980’s to convert the existing hand-drawn maps to a computerized system. The first step toward the new mapping system was to contract Swissair Photo + Surveys, Ltd. (Zurich) to perform a photogrammetric survey of the Arboretum’s 265 acres. From the survey, Swissair Photo provided the Arboretum with a base map in the Massachusetts State Plane coordinate system, compatible with a CAD (computer aided design) format, complete with topographic contour lines at intervals of 10 feet, roads, paths, water features, and buildings. Currently the Arboretum uses AutoCAD Map 3D 2008 as its map drawing software.

A grid system overlaid on the base map divides the property into 65 individual maps, each 400’ by 600’. Each map is further divided into 4 quadrants labeled as NW, NE, SW, SE and drawn at a scale of 1” = 20’. Hardscape elements and plants are assigned to separate layers in the AutoCAD system. This feature facilitates the tracking of the living collection, as well as the updating of changes in any hardscape elements, irrigation lines, contours, utility lines, etc. In addition, plants that have been removed or de-accessioned are assigned to a ‘DELETIONS’ layer, which is normally kept invisible, so that an archival view of the Arboretum’s collection is maintained. Most of the systematic plantings in the Arboretum are arranged so that plants are at least 1- to 30 feet apart. These areas lend themselves well to the rectangular grid arrangement. There are certain areas, including the Bradley Collection of Rosaceous Plants, the dwarf conifer collection and the permanent plantings around the Dana Greenhouse, which are comprised of individual beds or groupings with tightly spaced plantings. These areas are best managed out of the context of the larger system.

The locations of new plantings on the grounds are determined using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology (Trimble® ProXR). Individual plants are then digitized onto the maps, with the exact location marked with a symbol that denotes a plant’s provenance type. Linked to each symbol are the plant’s accession number and an abbreviated form of its botanical name. All of this information is gathered directly from BG-Base and can be accessed from an active list within AutoCAD. Changes made in the collections are noted in the database and are reflected on the maps via a utility program that links the AutoCAD-based mapping system to BG-Base.

The complete set of maps is updated and map books are produced in an 11” x 17” format. These are distributed to various members of the staff for use in the collection. Visiting professionals are provided with maps and information from BG-Base that pertains to their area(s) of interest.

Records

Plant records are maintained via a relational database, BG-BASE™, which was initiated in 1985 at the request of the Arnold Arboretum and the Threatened Plants Unit (TPU) of the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) in Cambridge, UK. This system is now used around the world in over 160 sites in 26 countries. The system is regularly updated and enhanced based on user input; its two development and support centers are the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (UK) and BG-BASE, Inc., located in Topsham, Maine (US).