Trees, Shrubs and Vines on the University of Notre Dame Campus

"To those who live, work, or visit the University of Notre Dame, its campus landscape, including site, natural features, buildings, and plants, is a defining element of the university. The overall effect that the campus presents is the result of a balance struck between the functional needs of the university-scholarly, spiritual, recreational and the aesthetic goals. Within the landscape, the woody plants are the most prominent component in both size and numbers. Twenty-seven years ago Peter E. Hebert, C.S.C, compiled a list of trees, shrubs, and vines-the woody plants-growing on the Notre Dame campus. The woody plants are a logical focus for a study of the campus flora because they are visible throughout all seasons and remain in place for years, limited only by changing human needs or environmental factors. Much changes in twenty-seven years, however, and Father Hebert's list has become out of date. During 1990, the Sesquicentennial Committee began planning special events, programs, and projects that would celebrate the university's 150th anniversary in ways that documented its past, reflected its present outlook, and, strengthened by these introspections, encouraged new scholarly contributions from the university community. In this spirit, the committee recognized that a new survey of the campus's woody plants could provide a unique perspective one that would document the university's environment and its historical development while also providing a basis from which decisions directing its future growth could be made. This book is an outgrowth of that broader, more comprehensive, project." -- Barbara Hellenthal, PhD, Assoc. Prof. of Biological Sciences