Inventory
Searchable Plant Inventory
The Arnold Arboretum's living collections database, BG-BASE, is online and can be searched by entering one or more words from the scientific or common name:
- Use * or ] as a wildcard character.
- For example, to search for all values starting with Gent, enter gent* or gent].
- Multiple search criteria should be separated by a comma.
- For example, to look up both Gentiana acaulis L. and Rhododendron lepidotum Wall. ex G. Don, enter Gentiana acaulis, Rhododendron lepidotum.
- Omit authorities or cultivar indicators eg. cv.
- Entries can be either upper or lower case.
Living accessions can be located on the grounds by referencing the grid numbers and directional quadrants within them. For instance, for one of our tupelos (Nyssa sylvatica) the grid is number 22 and the quadrant within it is SW. This location—22-SW—can be matched to the 200-foot-by-300-foot area on the grounds using this location key.
Locations for plants that do not fall within numbered grids are abbreviated as follows:
- BRC = Eleanor Cabot Bradley Collection of Rosaceous Plants
- DGH = Dana Greenhouse
- HH2002 = Hemlock Hill
- LG = Leventritt Garden
More detailed information on plant locations can be obtained from the staff in our visitor's center.
Multisite Searches
The Arnold Arboretum collaborates with other institutions to offer a single interface that allows users to search 24 living collections and conservation databases at once. The multisite search functionality is hosted by the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
Printed Inventory
An updated, paperbound edition of the living collections inventory was published in 2007. It lists alphabetically, by both genus and species, the 4,099 different kinds of plants (excluding nursery holdings) that were growing in the main collections of the Arnold Arboretum at that time. Printed copies are available for $15.00, or digital copies are available for free here (pdf). Please do not order by electronic mail; send your order with payment in U.S. funds to
Inventory Orders
Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
125 Arborway
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130-3500
U.S.A.