UCSC Arboretum

The UCSC Arboretum is a research and teaching facility that focuses on plant conservation. The arboretum serves both the campus and the public. It has the largest collection in the world containing representatives of more than 300 plant families and provides students with a broad survey of many different kinds of plants. The facilities for growing plants offer students and research faculty opportunities to conduct experiments. The Arboretum maintains collections of rare and threatened plants of unusual scientific interest. Particular specialties are world conifers, primitive angiosperms, and bulb-forming plant families. Large assemblages of plants from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and California natives are displayed on the grounds. Many of the species in these collections are not otherwise available for study in American botanical gardens and arboreta.

Arboretum events educate the public about plant diversity and conservation. Of service to the public and the nursery industry are the Arboretum's involvements of importing, selecting, and breeding ornamental plants, especially those that are drought tolerant and pest resistant. To date, the Arboretum is the original importer of more than 1,500 different selections of choice ornamentals. Many of these have been and will continue to be the plants of future California gardens. The arboretum is open daily from 10 am to 4 pm.