University of British Columbia Botanical Garden curates a collection of ca. 12 000 plants representing approximately 8000 taxa from temperate regions around the world. Temperate forest plants of British Columbia, eastern North America and Asia are curated in woodland gardens, while a classic alpine garden displays the diverse flora of high-altitude regions of the world.

Significant Collections

• Wild-collected species of
  • Acer (maples) from Asia and North America
  • Magnolia from Asia and North America
  • vascular plants from rainforest, Garry oak and alpine ecosystems of British Columbia
  • Rhododendron from Asia and North America
  • Clematis from Asia
  • Cornus (dogwoods) from Asia and North America
  • Sorbus (rowans) from Asia
  • Epimedium (barrenworts)
  • Lardizabalaceae (lardizabala family) from Asia
  • Styracaceae (storax family) from Asia and eastern North America
  • alpine flora of the world
• Cultivated taxa of
  • Magnolia
  • Rhododendron
  • alpine flora of the world

History of the Plant Collections

UBC Botanical Garden was established in 1916 with 900 species. By the late 1930s, the Botanical Garden included significant collections of British Columbia natives, willows, alpines, aquatics and medicinal plants, as well as native and exotic trees in the campus arboretum. Unfortunately, much of the old collections were lost or integrated with the campus plantings. The only remnants visible today are some very fine trees in the original arboretum.