Collection

Oaks and Conifers

The Arbore­tum is a nation­al­ly rec­og­nized col­lec­tor of the genus Quer­cus, oaks of the north­east­ern Unit­ed States, and has reg­is­tered this col­lec­tion with the Amer­i­can Pub­lic Gar­den Asso­ci­a­tion’s (APGA’s) North Amer­i­can Plant Col­lec­tions Con­sor­tium (NAPCC). The Arbore­tum col­lec­tion is unique in that many of its oaks were start­ed from wild seedlings col­lect­ed by Fred Lape. 

These slow grow­ing spec­i­mens are now approach­ing a youth­ful matu­ri­ty of fifty years.

The Arboretum’s sig­na­ture tree, the Great Oak was con­ser­v­a­tive­ly esti­mat­ed to be 500 years old. This white oak, Quer­cus alba, suf­fered the depre­da­tions of severe cli­mate and north­west expo­sure and failed to leaf out in 2016. The LaJe­unesse fam­i­ly donat­ed a white oak sapling in the mem­o­ry of their son, Jere­my, that is plant­ed near the rem­nant trunk of the Great Oak. The Arbore­tum is home to oth­er ancient trees, par­tic­u­lar­ly in the two Old Growth Forests on our grounds, but we will always hold the Great Oak in spe­cial esteem.

The Lan­dis Conifer Col­lec­tion is a rep­re­sen­ta­tive sam­ple of mature plants, high­ly suit­ed to the north­east­ern land­scape. This col­lec­tion of plants: pine, spruce and fir, is excep­tion­al for its matu­ri­ty, size and age, con­di­tion, and range of species. The Fir (Abies) Col­lec­tion at Lan­dis has one of the most com­plete group­ings of mature firs in the east, with six­teen species. Fred Lape was well known for the conifer collection.