Meet John Jack in our Visitor Center
As part of recent improvements in the Hunnewell Building Visitor Center, the library will now mount temporary exhibits in two new display cases. We are excited to showcase our archival holdings and...
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Agave palmeri at Fort Huachuca
Agave palmeri Fort Huachuca, Arizona, 1895. A recent research request gave me the chance to look through our historical photograph collection of pictures of Agave. While searching for a photo of Susan...
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2013 Annual Meeting of CBHL
Gretchen Wade (Harvard Botany Libraries), Mia D’Avanza and Stephen Sinon (New York Botanical Garden), Larissa Glasser (Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library), and Robin Everly (Smithsonian Libraries)...
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Ernest Wilson’s New England Trees
Rhododendron catawbiense, Hunnewell Estate, Wellesley, MA. Photograph by Ernest H. Wilson, June 13, 1924. We are currently in the midst of a project to digitize a selection of glass plate negatives of...
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Trees and their Biographies, part one
M-7. Pinus rigada, Massachusetts (Wareham), Cape Cod. Photograph by E.H. Wilson, October 28, 1923. [Information from label on verso of mount.] Plants, trees, and flowers seem to have their own...
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Trees and their Biographies, part two
M-1. Ulmus americana, Massachusetts (Groton). Side of main road between Groton and Townsend. Tree 90 ft. tall, girth of trunk 15 ft. Photograph by E.H. Wilson, October 12, 1923. [Information from label...
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Trees and their Biographies, part three
M-21. Quercus alba, Massachusetts (Dedham). The Avery oak, a full grown tree in 1636. Owned by the Dedham Historical Society. Photograph by E.H. Wilson, December 8, 1923. [Information from label on...
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Alfred Rehder, the Bradley Bibliography and BHL, oh my!
Alfred Rehder in the Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library. September, 1898. Photograph by Virginia Keyes. On September 4, 2013, we celebrated the 150th birthday of the renowned Arnold Arboretum...
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The Gendered History of the Arnold Arboretum
Dr. Shiu-Ying Hu at Harvard University, 1987. Displays in the Visitor Center at the Arnold Arboretum read like a historical timeline of distinguished men who made the institution what it is today....
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The Yokohama Nursery Company: Japanese Plants for Western Buyers
Chamaecyparis obtusa var. nana Carr. Genuine dwarf tree about 70 yrs. old. Value yen 50. Grounds of the Yokohama Nursery Co., Yokohama. [Information from inventory list.] Alternate Title: Potted tree....
View ArticleChesnuts – Celebrating Castanea, part one
At this time of year, chestnuts begin appearing in grocery stores and city pushcarts draw you in with their wonderful aroma. This tree has an interesting story, from food to industry, and to its near...
View ArticleChesnuts – Celebrating Castanea, part two
In our last post we learned about the chestnut and its great value for food and timber. This time around we’ll see what happens to a species, in this case the American chestnut (Castanea dentata), in...
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Embedded Herbarium Specimens in the Library
Pinus bungeana, Lacebark pine. “No pretreatment for fresh seed.” 6 inches high by 4 inches wide by 2.25 inches thick. Side view. In addition to the many thousands of specimens collected in the...
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Ernest Henry Wilson, Yakushima, and the Wilson stump
Wilson’s stump in Yakushima, Kagoshima Pref., Japan. March 6, 2012. Photograph by Σ64 [N I Shigumarokuju]. GNU Free Documentation License, Wikimedia Commons. c/o Hong Kong or Shanghai Bank Yokohama,...
View ArticleErnest Henry Wilson and the Cherry Blossoms of Japan
As a long and very chilly winter hopefully draws to a close, we can but think upon the flowers of spring and especially the flowers of the genus Prunus (cherry). We hold a significant collection of...
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Galen Clark and the Mariposa Grove
Quercus chrysolepis. Galen Clark, first white man to see the big trees. California. Photo. by Geo. R. King, 1908. [Information from label on verso of mount.] Sequoia gigantea. Mariposa Grove,...
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It’s lilac time again!
It takes a singular event to lay claim to a Boston tradition. Lilac Sunday, which celebrates its 106th anniversary this year on May 11, is an annual rite of spring at the Arnold Arboretum. The...
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Photographs from Nature by Arthur Irving Emerson
The 1908 version of Our Trees: How to Know Them. One of Emerson’s original plates from in the Arnold Arboretum Archives. Our Trees: How to Know Them, was originally printed in 1905 as a guide to native...
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Ernest H. Wilson’s Travel Documents
Travel permit issued for Ernest Henry Wilson and Walter Reaves Zappey. The permit includes permission to carry hunting guns and cartridges. Ichang, 1908. Ernest H. Wilson papers. Archives of the Arnold...
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James George Frazer and The Golden Bough
The Golden Bough, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), Exhibited 1834. Medium Oil paint on canvas. Photo: © Tate, London 2014. This subject comes from Virgil’s poem, The Aeneid. The Trojan hero,...
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