Coker Arboretum (5.3 acres) is an
arboretum within the
North Carolina Botanical Garden
The North Carolina Botanical Garden (about , plus of nature preserves) is a botanical garden operated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The primary goal of the Garden is to research, catalog, a ...
on the campus of the
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...
,
Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The collection consists of a wide variety of plantings including flowering trees and
shrubs
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
as well as
bulb and
perennial displays. It is open daily without charge.
The arboretum was established in 1903 by
Dr. William Chambers Coker, the University's first Professor of Botany and the first chair of the University Buildings and Grounds Committee.
Coker loved East Asian species and added many throughout the 1920s into the 1940s, including
conifers and one
Metasequoia
''Metasequoia'', or dawn redwoods, is a genus of fast-growing deciduous trees, one of three species of conifers known as redwoods. The living species '' Metasequoia glyptostroboides'' is native to Lichuan county in Hubei province, China. Althou ...
, as well as
daffodil
''Narcissus'' is a genus of predominantly spring flowering perennial plants of the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae. Various common names including daffodil,The word "daffodil" is also applied to related genera such as ''Sternbergia'', ''Ism ...
s and
daylilies
A daylily or day lily is a flowering plant in the genus ''Hemerocallis'' , a member of the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae. Despite the common name, it is not in fact a lily. Gardening enthusiasts and horticulturists have long ...
. Two prominent features are a native
vine
A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themsel ...
arbor (300 feet long) and an adjacent stone circle.
See also
*
List of botanical gardens in the United States
References
Arboreta in North Carolina
Botanical gardens in North Carolina
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill landmarks
Protected areas of Orange County, North Carolina
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill buildings
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