The Louisiana State Arboretum 600 acres (242.8 ha), is an arboretum

Arboretum

An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...

 located on Louisiana Highway 3042, approximately 13 km (eight miles) north of Ville Platte, Louisiana

Ville Platte, Louisiana

Ville Platte is a city in and the parish seat of Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,145 at the 2000 census. Its name is derived from the French ville plate, or "flat town."-History:...

 inside of Chicot State Park

Chicot State Park

Chicot State Park is located near Ville Platte, Louisiana. This wildlife reserve of South Central Louisiana features of rolling hills surrounding a man-made lake stocked with bass, crappie , bluegill, and red-ear sunfish. Chicot Park offers fishing boat rentals, pavilions, barbecue pits, picnic...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and bordering a branch of Lake Chicot

Lake Chicot

Lake Chicot is a lake located near Lake Village, Arkansas. It is the largest oxbow lake in North America and the largest natural lake in Arkansas, formed 600 years ago by the meandering of the Mississippi River....

. Established in 1961, it is the oldest state-supported arboretum in the United States.

History

Initial efforts to establish a Louisiana Arboretum in the 1950s were led by Caroline Dormon

Caroline Dormon

Caroline Coroneos Dormon was a botanist, horticulturist, ornithologist, historian, archeologist, preservationist, naturalist, conservationist, and author from Louisiana. She was born in modest circumstances at Briarwood, the family home in northern Natchitoches Parish, to James L. Dormon and the...

, A. G. Lawton, and J. D. Lafleur Sr. The majority of these efforts were near Ville Platte and included Magnolia Garden Club, the Rotary Club, and the Chamber of Commerce. In spring of 1961, the State Parks and Recreation Commission ordered the creation of the Louisiana State Arboretum.

Attractions

The Arboretum contains over 150 species of plant life native to Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, on a varied topography suitable for nearly all Louisiana vegetation except those of the prairies and coastal marshes. The Arboretum is a mature Beech-Magnolia forest containing centuries-old giant beech

Beech

Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...

, magnolia

Magnolia

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol....

, oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

, and ash tree

Ash tree

Fraxinus is a genus flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45-65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The tree's common English name, ash, goes back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name...

s, as well as fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...

s, hickories

Hickory

Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as hickory, derived from the Powhatan language of Virginia. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and big nuts...

, maple

Maple

Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...

s, sycamore

Sycamore

Sycamore is a name which is applied at various times and places to three very different types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms....

s, and crane fly orchids. Wildlife includes white-tail deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

, fox

Fox

Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...

, opossum, raccoon

Raccoon

Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...

, skunk

Skunk

Skunks are mammals best known for their ability to secrete a liquid with a strong, foul odor. General appearance varies from species to species, from black-and-white to brown or cream colored. Skunks belong to the family Mephitidae and to the order Carnivora...

, squirrel

Squirrel

Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...

, wild turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, and numerous other bird species.