The Magens Bay Arboretum is a five-acre arboretum located just inland of

Magens Bay Magens Bay is a bay in the Northside region on Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, in the Caribbean. Description Lying on the northern (Atlantic) side of the island, Magens Bay (Estate Zufriedenheit) features a well-protected white sa ...

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Thomas ( da, Sankt Thomas) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea which, together with Saint John, Water Island, Hassel Island, and Saint Croix, form a county-equivalent and constituent district of the United States Virgin ...

. It is operated by the Magens Bay Authority and open to the public.

History

The arboretum was planted in the 1920s under the direction of Arthur Fairchild who in 1947 deeded

to the people of the Virgin Islands. Established as a private arboretum on his estate, it was said to contain 200 species representing 71 plant families, including 20 species local to the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Cro ...

and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. The arboretum was neglected after his death, but in 1974 the

University of the Virgin Islands The University of the Virgin Islands (or UVI) is a public historically black land-grant university in the United States Virgin Islands. History UVI was founded as the College of the Virgin Islands on March 16, 1962. In 1986, it officially be ...

began to provide technical assistance, starting with the labeling of rare trees. The Charlotte Amalie Rotary Club aided in its restoration. The arboretum reopened in 1995 only to be destroyed by

Hurricane Marilyn Hurricane Marilyn was the most powerful hurricane to strike the Virgin Islands since Hurricane Hugo of 1989, and the third such tropical cyclone in roughly a two-week time span to strike or impact the Leeward Islands, the others being Hurricane ...

three months later. The arboretum is closed for repair following destruction by

Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...

and

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect ...

in 2017.

Collections

In 1997, another 160 trees were purchased and planted. Several are extremely rare native species, such as the small ''

Solanum conocarpum ''Solanum conocarpum'', commonly known as marron bacoba, is a vascular plant species in the family Solanaceae found in the US Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands. Description ''Solanum conocarpum'' is a thornless and flowering plant. It is ...

'' tree, known from only one location in the dry forest of St. John.Arboretum
/ref> Other acquisitions include five varieties of

plumeria ''Plumeria'' (), known as frangipani, is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Rauvolfioideae, of the family Apocynaceae. Most species are deciduous shrubs or small trees. The species variously are endemic to Mexico, Central America, and ...

from the

Honolulu Botanical Gardens The Honolulu Botanical Gardens are botanical gardens located in Honolulu County, Oahu, Hawaii, and operated under the county's auspices. The gardens are open daily except for Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The Gardens' stated mission is to plan, ...

. Other species that includes ''

Melicoccus bijugatus ''Melicoccus bijugatus'' is a fruit-bearing tree in the soapberry family Sapindaceae, native or naturalized across the New World tropics including South and Central America, and parts of the Caribbean. Its stone-bearing fruits are edible. It ...

'', '' Bursera simaruba'', ''

Pisonia Subcordata ''Pisonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher trees ...

''.

References

Arboreta in the United States Virgin Islands Botanical gardens in the United States Virgin Islands 1920s establishments in the United States Virgin Islands {{arboretum-stub

History

Collections

See also

References