Woody Plant Inventory

Woody Plant Inventory

The Fell Arboretum has over 3800 trees and shrubs, over 380 unique botanical taxa, and is spread over approximately 490 acres. To monitor and maintain our woody plant inventory, we use ArcGIS. This cloud-based mapping system allows us to map and store data we collect for each woody plant in the arboretum.

Using ArcGIS, with the help of several students, faculty, and staff we have created an online map of the woody plants in the Fell Arboretum. The map is designed to be used by visitors navigating the arboretum and to enable student learning; it can help locate plants of interest, provide data downloads to answer environmental and spatial questions, and inspire art and literature with images of plants and their flowers through the seasons.

Video Tutorial

Want a few tips on how to operate our online map?

Tribute Trees

Currently we have over 100 trees in our inventory that have been graciously donated through our tribute tree program. Each point on our online map signifies a woody plant, and when selected, information associated with the plant appears. Tribute trees are marked with “Tribute” next to the category “Designation.” Further information on the type of tribute tree is listed next to “Dedication.” This includes trees that were donated as a gift to the arboretum, or in honor or memorial of an event or loved one. Finally, the name of the donor, event, or person the tree is designated to is listed next to “Designee.”

We are constantly working to update the identification tags of our tribute trees. These tags indicate the plant’s species name and designee, and due to weather conditions, tags are replaced from time to time. If you need a tribute tree located or have information to contribute to our records, please contact us at skmette@ilstu.edu or by any method listed on our contact page!