Collections Statistics
Obtain plant collection summaries.
Grant Expands Access
Over 31,500 accession records have been entered/edited including genera between Abeliophyllum and Romneya.
Inventory Field Checks
This year, curatorial staff will field check Bussey Hill collections. Learn more about the Arboretum’s inventory methods and goals by referencing the Plant Inventory Operations Manual (pdf).
Inventory
The Arnold Arboretum’s living collections database, BG-BASE, is online and can be searched by entering one or more words of a scientific or common plant name (omit authorities, cultivar indicators) or intraspecific epithet(s):
- Entries can be either upper or lower case.
- Use * or ] as a wildcard character.
- For example, to search for all values starting with Magnolia, enter Magnolia* or Magnolia]
- Multiple search criteria should be separated by a comma.
- For example, to look up both Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) Buchholz and Rhododendron prunifolium (Small) Millais enter Sequoiadendron giganteum, Rhododendron prunifolium.
Pinpoint plant collections and explore landscape features with our new interactive map.
Living accessions can be located on the grounds by referencing a grid and directional quadrants within them. For instance, a Chinese filbert (Corylus chinensis) specimen is located in grid number 31, quadrant NW. This location, 31-NW, can be matched to a 200-foot-by-300-foot area on the grounds using this grid map.
Locations for plants that fall within named garden locations are abbreviated as follows:
- BR = Bradley Rosaceous Collection
- DGB = Dana Greenhouse beds (no public access)
- EG = Explorers Garden
- LARZ = Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection
- LG = Leventritt Shrub & Vine Garden
- VISITOR-CNT = Hunnewell Visitor Center
- WH = Weld Hill
- WH-INTERIOR = Weld Hill Research Building interior (no public access)
Print supplemental location keys:
- Bradley Rosaceous Collection (pdf)
- Explorers Garden (pdf)
- Leventritt Shrub & Vine Garden and Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection (pdf)
More detailed information on plant locations can be obtained from the staff in our Visitor Center.
Multisite Searches
The Arnold Arboretum collaborates with other institutions to offer a single interface that allows users to search 28 living collections and conservation databases at once. The multisite search functionality is hosted by the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
Printed Inventory
An updated, paperbound edition of the living collections inventory was published in February, 2012. It lists alphabetically, by both genus and species, the 3,954 different kinds of plants (excluding nursery holdings) that were growing in the main collections of the Arnold Arboretum at that time.
Printed copies are available for $15.00 (includes postage), or digital copies are available for free here (pdf). Please do not order by electronic mail; send your order with payment in U.S. funds to:
Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
c/o Manager of Plant Records, Invt. Order
125 Arborway
Boston, MA 02130-3500
United States