Morton Arboretum

The Morton Arboretum, in Lisle, Illinois, United States, is a public botanical garden and outdoor museum of living trees with a library, herbarium, and program in tree research through its Center for Tree Science. Its grounds, covering 1,700 acres (6.9 square kilometers), include cataloged collections of trees and other living plants, gardens, and restored areas, among which is a restored tallgrass prairie. The living collections include more than 4,100 different plant species. There are more than 200,000 cataloged plants. As a place for outdoor recreation, the arboretum has 16 miles of hiking trails, nine miles of roadways for driving and bicycling, a 4-acre (16,000 m2) interactive children's garden and a 1-acre (4,000 m2) maze. The Schulenberg Prairie at the arboretum was one of the earliest prairie restoration projects in the Midwest, begun in 1962. It is one of the largest restored prairies in the Chicago suburban area. Three dozen cuttings from the old bur oak that had been in Lincoln Park Zoo have been grafted onto rootstocks at the arboretum. The arboretum offers a nature-centered education program for children, families, school groups, scouts, and adults, including tree and restoration professionals. The Natural Areas Conservation Training (N-ACT) Program offers classroom and online courses in ecological restoration techniques. The arboretum also offers credit courses through the Associated Colleges of the Chicago Area, a regional consortium. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) designated the Morton Arboretum as its Center for Species Survival: Trees, to study and promote the conservation and restoration of global tree ecosystems and strategies for species survival.