Medicinal Garden Morris Arboretum

In 1957 the Founders Fund Award was granted to the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania for establishing a Garden of Medicinal Plants. The site featured plants collected by Dr. John M. Fogg, Jr., then director of the Arboretum, obtained during trips to South East Asia, Mexico and Central America in addition to seed acquired from botanical gardens here and in Europe. In 1958 the Arboretum won an Award of Merit at the Philadelphia Flower Show for its display of drug plants.

The garden was completed in 1960 and featured tropical and subtropical plants, grown in pots and sunk in beds during the summer. The plants were grouped according to their medical properties or chemical constituents.

This specific garden was discontinued twenty six years after establishment and turned into a sculpture garden. The plants were incorporated into the Arboretum’s collection of Asiatic and North American medicinals. Interest and research into the medicinal capability of plants continued at the Arboretum and in 1993 they cosponsored an International Symposium on Medicinal Plants where the spirit of this Founders Fund Award could be felt in an address by symposium co-chair Timothy Tomlinson, Associate Director of the Morris Arboretum who said “we continue a long tradition in the study and conservation of plant resources. Public gardens with scientifically documented living collections, such as the Morris Arboretum, provide critical germplasm resources as well as staff with expertise in the care and propagation of valuable plants.”