Hoyt Arboretum
Encyclopedia
Tualatin Mountains
The Tualatin Mountains are a range of hills on the western border of Multnomah County, Oregon, United States...
of Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, United States. It was founded in 1922 by a collection of timber industry representatives, the U.S. Forest Service, the Portland Parks & Recreation
Portland Parks & Recreation
Portland Parks & Recreation is the bureau of the City of Portland which protects the parks, natural areas, recreational facilities, gardens, and trails of the city of Portland, Oregon....
department, and enthusiasts.
The 187 acre (0.75676282 km²) (76 ha
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
) arboretum hosts just under ten thousand individual trees and shrubs of more than eleven hundred species from all over the world. Most have labels identifying common and scientific names and region of origin.
The arboretum has twelve miles (19 km) of trails (two of which are suitable for wheelchairs), a visitor center, an indoor classroom with seating for 40 people, a picnic shelter and a meadow. Volunteer tour guides have been available since the 1970s.
The arboretum is located two miles (3 km) west of downtown Portland within Washington Park, and close to the Oregon Zoo
Oregon Zoo
The Oregon Zoo, formerly the Washington Park Zoo, is a zoo in Portland, the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located southwest of Downtown Portland, the zoo is inside Portland's Washington Park, and includes a narrow-gauge railway that connects to the International Rose Test Garden inside...
, and the International Rose Test Garden
International Rose Test Garden
The International Rose Test Garden is a rose garden in Washington Park in Portland, Oregon, United States. There are over 7,000 rose plants of approximately 550 varieties. The roses bloom from April through October with the peak coming in June, depending on the weather...
. The Arboretum is open to the public and accessible at several points from Washington Park or from the Macleay Trail in Forest Park
Forest Park (Portland)
Forest Park is a public municipal park in the Tualatin Mountains west of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Stretching for more than on hillsides overlooking the Willamette River, it is one of the country's largest urban forest reserves...
. The volunteer-staffed visitor's center is located at the center of the park where visitors can find information about the park and its trees; the visitor's center is also the starting point for periodic volunteer-guided tours.
Of note is the Dawn Redwood
Metasequoia
Metasequoia is a fast-growing, deciduous tree, and the sole living species, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, is one of three species of conifers known as redwoods. It is native to the Sichuan-Hubei region of China. Although the least tall of the redwoods, it grows to at least 200 feet in height...
, one of only a few known deciduous
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
conifers (needle and cone bearing trees that lose their leaves in the winter). The species was once thought extinct and known only in fossils, but was rediscovered in a remote valley in China in the early part of the twentieth century. The tree was reintroduced to the western hemisphere through saplings planted in the Hoyt Arboretum. The trees bear soft, short needles and have a distinctive look in that the branches seem to push out from folds in the trunk.
Cynthia Haruyama is the current executive director of the Hoyt Arboretum Friends Group. She has been the director since 2001.