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The Carolinian Forest
UBC Botanical Garden has taken the first steps in developing what will eventually become our newest garden feature, the Carolinian Forest. One thousand cubic metres of soil, extracted from a construction site on South Campus, was recently spread on an expanse of Botanical Garden hillside that has lain dormant since 1972.
Botanical Garden visitors, staff, volunteers, students and faculty have repeatedly expressed interest in eastern North American hardwoods. The late Gerald Straley, a Virginia native and former Curator of Collections at the Botanical Garden, had always advocated for such a collection, arguing that there were few examples of this rich and biologically important floristic assemblage displayed anywhere locally. Significantly, a large number of eastern North American plants have their closest relatives in east Asia, while others have relatives in both Asia and western North America. Amassing Carolinian species here would enable the garden to link collections of a number of important genera and species groups, such as Liriodendron (tulip poplar), magnolia, Acer (maples) and rhododendron. Beyond biogeographic comparisons, other educational objectives, such as conservation and biodiversity research, will be more easily accomplished with the addition of the arboretum. So much of the eastern hardwood forest, including its associated shrubby and herbaceous flora, is significant from an aesthetic point of view, we know that the Carolinian Forest will be enormously popular with all of our visitors.
The process of germinating and growing a number of these plants in the Botanical Garden Nursery has already begun. Most of the seeds have been collected in the wild from forests in eastern Canada and the Maritimes to the Carolinas and Georgia. Approximately 300 trees and shrubs, representing more than 100 different species, will eventually be planted. The first plantings took place in the early spring of 2006.
The Carolinian Forest will comprise 12 individual groves, each named for an early North American plant explorer. The groves will exhibit a variety of trees and shrubs, including signature species that have particular significance to the legacies of those explorers. For example, Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel) will be planted in the Kalm Grove. Pehr Kalm (1716–1779) was an explorer-botanist born in Sweden and a student of Carolus Linnaeus who collected in northernmost parts of the eastern hardwood forest (including Quebec). Franklinia alatamaha will reside in the Bartram Grove. American John Bartram (1699-1777), who Linnaeus described as the greatest natural botanist in the world, discovered this beautiful camellia relative (named for Bartram's friend Benjamin Franklin) while collecting plants with his son near the Altamaha River in Georgia in 1770s. Bartram was among the last to see this species in the wild.
The Carolinian Forest's location on the hillside adjacent to the proposed Garry Oak Meadow and Woodland and overlooking Southwest Marine Drive and Georgia Strait beyond, will make it visible from all areas of the north garden, as well as from the Botanical Garden entrance and the proposed Vistor Centre. We invite you to help support this exciting new development and share in our anticipation of a spectacularly beautiful arboretum.
