East Asian Collection

Guardians: Spirits of Protection, Expands to the Arboretum

A poetry path, a reflection bridge, a Dakhil (a traditional Islamic act of devotion that often involves tying fabric to a tree or anything one considers sacred), and more can be found in the Arboretum through April 30. The exhibit is a temporary installation in support of design MFA students Niloufar Abdolmaleki and Edward Whelan’s theses and an extension of Professor Emeritus Ann Savageau’s exhibit at the campus design museum through April 24 entitled, “Guardians: Spirits of Protection.”

Popular ginkgo tree showcases cross-cultural addiction

Art installation created by Rocio Perez, a student in Professor Robin Hill's Intermediate Sculpture Class entitled Addiction, 2019, features dozens of fake plaster cell phones hanging from a popular ginkgo tree in the UC Davis Arboretum's East Asian Collection.

Sea of Cortez memorial site relocated to Arboretum’s East Asian Collection

On March 27, 2000 a tragic boating accident on the Sea of Cortez claimed the lives of two UC Davis researchers and three visiting scientists from Kyoto University in Japan.

In 2001, a small garden and five trees commemorating the lives of these scientists were planted in an Arboretum garden near Putah Creek Lodge, but the soil’s low pH and high boron levels made it difficult for the plants to thrive.

Jonathan Su, student staff with the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, takes soil samples to send for testing prior to relocating this memorial.