University of Arizona
Tier2-1: Native Plants

The University of Arizona Campus Arboretum was officially nationally recognized by the American Public Gardens Association in 2002. The mission of the UA Campus Arboretum is to preserve manage, enhance, and expand a vital collection of plants in an active, urban Sonoran Desert setting. To do this the Campus Arboretum provides guidance and focus to those charged with the planning, development and management of the plant collections of the University of Arizona Campus Arboretum, with the aim of optimizing utilization of available resources to realize the Campus Arboretum's mission through effective and appropriate collections development. The Collection’s Policy, which defines the plant selection criteria states that living plants acquired by the University of Arizona Campus Arboretum should meet the goals and objectives of the Arboretum, as defined by the Mission Statement. Specifically, plants selected for acquisition by the Campus Arboretum should have an emphasis on adaptation to arid or semi-arid conditions or serve some educational value if otherwise. Arid and semi-arid regions shall be defined as those receiving annual rainfall of under 250 mm (10 inches) and under 500 mm (20 inches) respectively. Acquisitions should be adapted to the ambient temperature conditions of the site in Tucson, AZ of between -8C and 42C.