The Arboretum at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

The Desert Arboretum Park is located at the Arizona State University campus in Tempe, Arizona. The Arboretum has a number of different plants around the world that have survived transplantation to provide this educational facility for both students and visitors. The park has three places visitors will want to visit. They are the amphitheater, aquatic habitat, and southwestern desert gardens.

The Arboretum was begun in 1896 by Arthur J. Matthews. He planted the first plant on the ASU land. It took thirty years for Matthews to get the Arboretum filled with plants. He was the President of the Norman School. The original plan was for 57 plant species and 74 shrubs. He also designed the Palm Walk, which is perhaps the most distinguished part of the Arboretum. President Grady Gammage decided to continue the tradition of the botanical garden at the campus, adding more plants and interest. In 1990 President Latie Coor decided to dedicate the ground as an Arboretum rather than just a garden.

Visitors to the Arboretum will notice tall palms and Himalayan pines are among the trees. Rare fruit trees and cacti also make up the colorful landscape as visitors are led through the world of plants. Today there are over 300 different species of plants at the Arboretum from a number of different geographic regions. Plants typical of the Sonoran Desert remain. The park is credited with having one of the best collections of date palms and conifers of the southwest desert. Some of the plant species are native to Arizona.

The Arboretum is open year round, 24 hours a day. About 50,000 people come to visit the 750 acre park weekly. Visitors to Maricopa County and ASU can learn about the different plants growing at the park. Many of the plants are shown in varying stages of growth. There is a nursery with newer plants and of course the older trees which were planted over a hundred years ago. Visitors can stroll along the walkways on the weekend for privacy or go during the week to see many other visitors. Since the Arboretum is part of the University admission is free. Parking is only free on the weekends. All other days it is $4.

ASU also has another place visitors might want to drive to after seeing the Arboretum. In Mesa there is a Horticultural Research Center. It was started in 1990, where 47 acres were planned out for research of various plants. For example the spider lily bulbs are used by zoologists and biologists for cancer research projects. They have over 400 specimens of date palm at the research center.

The Date Palm Collection is extremely important. In 1995 ASU was named as having the official collection of edible date palms in North America. They have species from around the world that are date palms. The Arboretum also has one of the oldest trees in Arizona, the Arizona Cypress. Species represented include the Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae, and Agavaceae among others.