Arboretum of the University of Central Florida, Botanical garden at University of Central Florida, Orlando, US.

The Arboretum of the University of Central Florida is an 80-acre botanical garden and arboretum on the university's main campus in Orlando. It combines cultivated plantings with natural habitats: a 5-acre bald cypress dome, a roughly 3-acre oak hammock, about 15 acres of sand pine and Florida scrub with wild rosemary, and 32 acres of pine flatwoods. Narrow trails cross these zones.

The arboretum was established in 1983 by UCF president Trevor Colbourn, starting with about 12 acres of degraded swamp pine community east of the campus's built area, east of the current biology building. In 1988, under president Altman, it was enlarged with a 5-acre cypress dome, about 3 acres of southern oaks and some 15 acres of sand pine and Florida scrub. Director Henry O. Whittier led it until his retirement in 2003, when Martin Quigley succeeded him. Hurricane Charley destroyed most of the swamp pines in the original 12 acres in 2004, and that area is being restored.

The arboretum is managed by UCF's Environmental Initiative, founded in 2008 to oversee the university's natural lands. Its burn team, led by chief burn boss Alaina Bernard, sets controlled fires in the pine flatwoods and scrub to return nutrients to the soil as ash and let the next generation of wildflowers and grasses emerge.

You can explore the trails on your own or join guided tours to learn more about the different plants and ecosystems. The grounds are accessible and open for volunteer work if you want to get more involved with gardening or conservation activities.

The flatwoods section is so level that after heavy rain water can take a day or two to drain, since the ground slopes no more than 2 to 3 inches per mile. Walking the narrow paths in different months reveals wild orchids, bladderworts and other seasonal plants hidden from the road.