What Is an Arboretum?
An arboretum is a living museum established for the growing and effective display of trees, shrubs, and vines. The specimens are maintained, labeled, cataloged, and mapped. The characteristics of the grounds, the collections, the type of research, and educational programs sets each arboretum apart.
Our Mission
To provide a learning environment that will advance our global understanding of temperate forests, cultivate an aesthetic appreciation for regional flora of the Allegheny Plateau, and demonstrate practical applications of woody plant materials to modify and mitigate local environmental conditions.
Arboretum History
In January 2000, IUP President Lawrence Pettit appointed an Arboretum Board, under the direction of Jerry Pickering, to develop an arboretum on the campus. In the first year, key decisions by the board included deciding that the entire IUP campus would constitute the arboretum, naming the arboretum the Allegheny Arboretum at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and establishing the mission, goals and objectives of the arboretum. In 2005, the Allegheny Arboretum officially became part of the university and is administered by the vice president of Administrationand Finance.
The intent of the Arboretum Board is to work with the university and organizations to develop a public arboretum that is integrated into the Indiana community and to develop a regional arboretum for western Pennsylvania.
Facts about the Allegheny Arboretum
- The Allegheny Arboretum is the entire 374 acres of the IUP campus.
- In 2014, the Allegheny Arboretum received a Level I accreditation from the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program.
- In 2015, Best College Reviews ranked the Allegheny Arboretum number 10 in a listing of the 50 most beautiful college arboretums.
- There are approximately 1,200 trees, representing 104 tree species, on the north campus.
- The most common campus trees are Hemlock, Pin Oak, White Pine, and White Oak.
- One tree of each of the 104 different species has been identified by placing an informational tree plaque on or near the tree.The plaques list the following information for each tree: scientific name (in Latin), common name, distribution, if it is native to region, and if it is a cultivated species.
- The first arboretum project was the Restorationand Revitalization of the Oak Grove.
- The Allegheny Arboretum is administered by the vice president of Administrationand Finance at IUP.
- A 20-member Allegheny Arboretum Board governs the arboretum.
- Arboretum activities have included the planting of 212 trees, installing 32 dedication benches, constructing the Campbell Farm Rock Garden, and obtaining two grants for tree maintenance on the campus.
- The arboretum collaborated with the Wood Center at IUP to construct the wood-drying shed as part of the "Harvest to Use Campaign."
- Student projects have been coordinated with the following departments: Art, Biology, Communications Media, and Geographyand Regional Planning.
- The Allegheny Arboretum is entirely privately funded.The funds are solicited by the Office of Institutional Advancement and maintained by the Foundation for IUP.
- The intent of the Allegheny Arboretum Board and IUP is to work with organizations to develop a public arboretum that is integrated into the Indiana community and to develop a regional arboretum for western Pennsylvania.