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‘A Tree Grows on Campus’

In the words of playwright Anton Chekhov, “Life on earth is inconceivable without trees.” Yet how often do we stop to marvel at these living wonders? Trees occupy the realm of superlatives—biggest, tallest, oldest—stretching the boundaries of what we imagine possible in a living thing. Consider Pando, the clonal colony of aspen in Utah’s Fishlake National Forest, whose vast root system emerged at the end of the last Ice Age. A single organism, it ranks among the world’s most ancient and largest living things, occupying 106 acres and weighing 13 million pounds.

Trees don’t just inspire awe. They make our world more livable, creating pockets of serenity in a chaotic modern world. “The atmosphere up in a tree is totally different than down next to the asphalt,” says Charles Perington, an arborist at the University of Utah’s Red Butte Garden & Arboretum and a competitive tree climber. The science backs it up: these leafy giants filter pollution and cool the air, and their soothing hues and aromas measurably affect body and mind. Inhaling the scent of pine, for example, can lower cortisol and boost the immune system.

At the U, trees aren’t merely landscaping—they’re a living museum, born from one man’s simple philosophy: “Let’s plant it and see if it grows.” That man was Walter P. Cottam, the university’s Botany Department chair, whose fascination with trees led him to plant diverse species in what’s now known as Cottam’s Gulch. His efforts spread across campus, transforming it into what the Utah legislature would designate the state’s official arboretum in 1961. In 1985, the garden opened to expand the arboretum and establish permanent display gardens. Together, the campus and Red Butte host 11,600 trees spanning more than 300 species.

“Every tree is unique,” says Suzie Middleton, a certified arborist who has inventoried the entire campus collection. Her favorite, a Japanese zelkova planted by Cottam himself, is the largest specimen of its kind in Utah and one of 13 state champions at the U. Middleton oversees the University of Utah tree tour, which allows visitors to explore the collection by scanning QR codes on placards attached to about 100 trees.

Under the canopy of Cottam’s legacy, it’s impossible not to pause and marvel. Read on to discover a few of the species you can visit in this remarkable resource.

Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pine

Pinus aristata

For withstanding the extreme conditions of its arid montane habitat, the Rocky Mountain bristlecone is rewarded with a lifespan of two or three millennia. Its cousin, the Great Basin bristlecone pine, lives even longer. The world’s oldest tree is a 4,853-year-old specimen named Methuselah, whose exact California location is kept secret to protect it from the unfortunate fate of the oldest tree on record—a nearly 5,000-year-old Great Basin National Park bristlecone felled in 1964.

Did you know?

  • Native to Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona
  • Habitat: arid elevations from 7,500-12,000 ft.
  • Ice and high winds shape the trunks into surreal, sculptural forms
  • Dense, resinous wood resists pests

Campus coordinates: 40.760785, -111.841563; 40.76511, -111.83286

Read the full story in University of Utah Magazine.