North Carolina Botanical Garden
The UNC Board of Trustees first approved the use of university-owned land for a botanical garden in 1952. The original land was supplemented by private gifts, and the North Carolina Botanical Garden now manages more than 1,000 acres. The garden, overseen by the university's botany department, first opened to the public in 1966. It was designed as a conservation garden, cultivating and maintaining thousands of different native plant species. The garden supports both education and research, attracting a large number of visitors each year and serving as a resource for faculty and students in the botany department. One of the many specialized collections in the garden is devoted to carnivorous plants, including pitcher plants and Venus flytraps. In addition to the main gardens located southwest of campus, the North Carolina Botanical Garden also oversees the Coker Arboretum, Battle Park, the Mason Farm Biological Reserve (a natural area preserved for research and education), and the UNC Herbarium, a collection of natural history specimens founded in 1908 that has grown into one of the largest collections of its kind in the country.
Date Established: 1952
Date Range: 1952 – Present