Meschersky Arboretum, Protected arboretum in Barsukovo, Russia.

The Meschersky Arboretum covers 542 hectares in the Stanovlyansky district, the largest arboretum in Russia by area. Its plants are grouped by botanical geography into sections for Europe, northern and temperate Asia, and North America. The grounds are bordered by a long-standing spruce hedge, and the collection includes about 2,000 species and varieties of trees and shrubs.

The estate of the Artsybashev noble family at the village of Meshcherka dates from the 17th century. In 1903 Dmitry Artsybashev laid out a park on four hectares, and in 1905 he brought 90 foreign plants at his own expense. In 1924 the estate became the Tula Acclimatization Station; in 1926 a 10-hectare landscape arboretum was planted by botanical-geographical principle, and Nikolai Vekhov led the station for 30 years until 1954.

The name comes from the village of Meshcherka, the Artsybashev family estate from the 17th century. The station holds 96 lilac varieties, including 'India', 'Jawaharlal Nehru' and 'Marshal Vasilevsky' bred by L. A. Kolesnikov, plus 38 mock-orange varieties. Two pyramidal oaks on the flag of Stanovlyansky district represent the park.

The arboretum lies in the Stanovlyansky district of Lipetsk oblast, at the village of Barsukovo near Meshcherka. Plants are grouped by botanical-geographic origin: sections for Europe, northern and temperate Asia, and North America. The whole station is ringed by birches and larches forming a green wall, and the arboretum itself by an old spruce hedge. The site is a protected area, so stay on paths and do not collect seeds or cuttings.

The blue spruces standing by the Kremlin wall on Red Square were grown here at the station. The park also appears on the flag of Stanovlyansky District as two pyramidal oaks, and a bust of professor Nikolai Vekhov, its first director for 30 years, stands on the grounds.