KU News Release

April 22, 2008
Contact: Margey Frederick, Special Events and Visitor Services, (785) 864-7103.

Sunny skies forecast for KU’s campus tour of spring flora April 26

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas officials are hopeful that the skies will not be cloudy all day for the first campus tour of spring flora in recent history.

Current forecasts for Saturday, April 26, are for 60-degree temperatures and sunny skies, but come light rain or shine, the tour will begin at 11 a.m. at the Kansas Union lobby. About 30 people have signed up for the free, 90-minute tour that can accommodate 40 people.

“This is our first spring tour,” said Margey Frederick, director of special events and visitor services and organizer of the tour. “We hope it will encourage visitors to explore the campus more and appreciate its natural beauty.”

Craig Freeman and Caleb Morse, botanists with KU’s R.L. McGregor Herbarium who are leading the tour, advise participants to wear walking shoes and be prepared for showers should the forecast change.

For the tour, Freeman and Morse have prepared an expanding list of trees and shrubs on campus and their locations. Their list includes common and scientific plant names and is available online.

The route will follow Jayhawk Boulevard west to the Chi Omega fountain and then turn back east at the Korean War memorial on Memorial Drive. The route continues to the campanile, though a wooded area known as Marvin Grove and to Spencer Museum of Art before returning to the Kansas Union.

A recent tree density study found about 29,500 trees on campus — main and west sections — about one tree for every KU student. Freeman and Morse have indexed more than 130 kinds of trees and shrubs.

The botanists note that the ridge known as Mount Oread, the site of KU’s first buildings, was nearly treeless in 1866 when the university was founded. Efforts began then to transform “the barren Mount Oread into a lovely park by grading the grounds and planting Osage hedges, and, more important, setting out some 500 trees,” Clifford S. Griffin wrote in his book, “The University of Kansas, A History.”

Ten years later, Chancellor James Marvin inspired both the legislature and the Lawrence community to add more trees and shrubs to the campus. In 1882, Marvin predicted “This campus is susceptible of rapid transformation from a rough common to a beautiful park.” Other chancellors and KU officials followed Marvin’s vision.

In 1991, Thomas A. Gaines recognized KU as one of the 12 most beautiful campuses in the nation in his book, “The Campus as a Work of Art.”

“We hope the tour will be an opportunity to spend a day on campus,” Frederick said. The Kansas Union serves lunch until 2 p.m. The union bookstore, Natural History Museum, Spencer Art Museum and Dole Institute of Politics are also open on Saturdays.

The McGregor Herbarium is one of 12 research divisions in KU’s Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center. The herbarium is open by appointment during the week to scientists and the public by calling (785) 864-4493.

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The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.

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