Arboretum Mustila is an

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

near

Elimäki Elimäki (Swedish: ''Elimä'') is a former municipality of Finland. It was located in the province of Southern Finland and was part of the region of Kymenlaakso. The municipality had a population of 8,199 and covered an area of 391.74 km² ...

in southern Finland. The arboretum was founded in 1902 and is today maintained by a trust. At its inception it was intended as a testing ground for foreign species of

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

s. Today it contains slightly less than 100 species of conifers and over 200 species of

broad-leaved tree A broad-leaved, broad-leaf, or broadleaf tree is any tree within the diverse botanical group of angiosperms that has flat leaves and produces seeds inside of fruits. It is one of two general types of trees, the other being a conifer, a tree with ne ...

, in addition to other plants. Several of the trees are arranged in larger constellations rather than as individual specimen. Arboretum Mustila's collection of

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

s and

azalea Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and '' Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, and Octob ...

s is furthermore notable. The many species of trees occasionally attract locally rare birds, e.g.

spotted nutcracker The spotted nutcracker, Eurasian nutcracker, or simply nutcracker (''Nucifraga caryocatactes'') is a passerine bird slightly larger than the Eurasian jay. It has a much larger bill and a slimmer looking head without any crest. The feathering over ...

and two-barred crossbill. The arboretum is open to visitors for a fee and contains several walkways.

References

{{Authority control Arboreta in Finland 1902 establishments in Finland Geography of Kymenlaakso Tourist attractions in Kymenlaakso