Welcome to Linnaeus Arboretum
at Gustavus Adolphus College
Linnaeus Arboretum on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College provides an enriching environment to educate the mind, revive the spirit, and delight in Minnesota's natural history and the College's Swedish heritage.
The Arboretum is named for Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), a Swedish botanist who is best known for his work standardizing plant identification and shortening long descriptive plant names to the simpler binomial nomenclature system that is used today. The Arboretum's logo incorporates Linnaeus's favorite plant, Linnaea borealis (also known as the twinflower) which can be found in both Sweden and northern Minnesota.
Minnesota is home to three major vegetation communities: the coniferous forest in the north, the tallgrass prairie in the south and west, and the deciduous forest in between. These natural communities are represented in the western portion of the Arboretum. The area surrounding the Melva Lind Interpretive Center includes formal gardens and trees from around the globe that are hardy in Minnesota. The first trees were planted in 1973 on what was once prairie and then agricultural land.
We invite you to walk the Arboretum trails, experience its special beauty, and enjoy this unique campus sanctuary. Linnaeus Arboretum is open during daylight hours throughout the year. the Melva Lind Interpretive Center is open weekdays during the school year 8:30am - Noon and by appointment.