William F. Curtis Arboretum (84 acres), sometimes called Curtis Arboretum, 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 the campus of Cedar Crest College

Cedar Crest College

Cedar Crest College is a private liberal arts women's college in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the United States. During the 2006-2007 academic year, the college had 1,000 full-time and 800 part-time undergraduates and 85 graduate students...

, in Allentown

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...

, Lehigh County

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

-Climate:Most of the county's climate is considered to fall in the humid continental climate zone. Summers are typically hot and muggy, fall and spring are generally mild, and winter is cold. Precipitation is almost uniformly distributed throughout the year....

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 in the United States

United States

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

. The arboretum contains more than 140 varieties of trees, shrubs, and flowering bushes.

History

The arboretum began in 1915 when the college, at that time called the Allentown College for Women, moved to its current location from downtown Allentown. At the time, the campus was a cornfield with a single black walnut

Walnut

Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...

 tree. William F. Curtis, a minister and the college's seventh president, would not accept fees for speaking engagements, but instead welcomed donations of trees, shrubs, and flowering bushes for planting on campus. The original black walnut tree was destroyed in a violent storm on August 11, 1983. The campus was officially certified as an arboretum by the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta

American Public Gardens Association

The American Public Gardens Association is an association of public-garden institutions and professionals primarily in the United States and Canada....

 in 1985.

Collection

• Acer palmatum
  Acer palmatum
  Acer palmatum, called Japanese Maple or Smooth Japanese Maple is a species of woody plant native to Japan, North Korea, South Korea, China, eastern Mongolia, and southeast Russia. Many different cultivars of this maple have been selected and they are grown worldwide for their attractive leaf...
  
  
• Betula pendula
• Euonymus alatus
  Euonymus alatus
  Euonymus alatus, known variously as Winged Spindle, Winged Euonymus or Burning Bush, is a deciduous shrub native to eastern Asia, in central and northern China, Japan, and Korea. The shrub grows to 2.5 m tall , often wider than tall...
  
  
• Ginkgo biloba
• Platanus x hispanica
• Prunus serrulata
  Prunus serrulata
  Prunus serrulata or Japanese Cherry; also called Hill Cherry, Oriental Cherry or East Asian Cherry, is a species of cherry native to Japan, Korea and China. It is known for its spring cherry blossom displays and festivals....