Free tree tour offers a look at ‘fabulous flora’ on university campus

The University of Alberta is home to dozens of different species of trees, including some you wouldn't think could survive in Edmonton. Nahreman Issa reports.

The University of Alberta is hoping visitors will be admiring the diverse flora on campus with free tree tours this weekend.

From the sugar maple – a sweet Canadian icon – to the ginkgo – a “living fossil” native to China – nearly 50 different tree species are flourishing on the campus grounds.

“I waffle between the butternut and the amur cork tree because they’re both pretty cool,” self-proclaimed tree nerd Stacy Bergheim said, when asked about her favourite tree on campus.

Bergheim works in a forest genetics lab at the university, and will be a tree guide for three days of touring on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The event is open to the public, and welcomes all ages and it will be wheelchair and stroller accessible. Visitors will get to see and learn about the tree species around the main campus area.

“It’s a pretty good representation of what’s on campus,” Bergheim said, adding that there are 41 species shown during the tour.

“Some of the best trees on campus are the butternut, the dahurian birch … (and) of course, all of the maples.”

The trees are also a great resource for students, according to Bergheim, who says they may not give a second thought to the ones rooted at the university.

“People really take them for granted,” she explained.

“You feel how those trees make you feel better – and they look beautiful – but they’re maybe not identifying and looking at a specific tree and saying, ‘Oh, that particular tree is beautiful.’”

The “fabulous flora” is credited to the efforts of Professor Hugh Knowles, who was a superintendent of the campus grounds from 1948 to 1984. According to Bergheim and the university, that culture has been continued with the grounds crews that followed.

“If we lose a species – sometimes we lose a tree – I think a lot of times they’ll try and find another spot for that same species,” added Bergheim.

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Three tour times are offered on Friday, and two tour times are offered on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

Visitors can register on-site before the tour at the information tent in Celebration Square, located in front of the Administration Building, at the University of Alberta.

A full list of trees can be found online.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa