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Birdwatchers are fond of this area, especially in winter when migrating long-eared and saw-whet owls can be spotted sleeping during the day in the protective pine trees |
Central Park has one of the most magnificent collections of pines — more than 400 trees and 15 different species from around the world — of any public park in the United States. They can be found in the Arthur Ross Pinetum, a scientific collection of pines created in 1971.
Evergreens played an important role in the original design of the Park. Olmsted and Vaux created a "Winter Drive" along the western carriage road from 102nd to 72nd Streets. Groupings of pines, spruces, and firs added color to the winter landscape and provided a backdrop for deciduous shrubs and oak, ash, and maple trees.
The most exotic part of the collection is perhaps the western corner, with Swiss Stone, Tanyosho, Lacebark, and Swiss Mountain pines all planted during the 1997 reconstruction of the Great Lawn. Better known are the varieties of white pine - the queen of the Adirondack forests in upstate New York - and the distinctive Himalayan pines with their bundles of long light green needles bending gracefully toward the earth.
Birdwatchers are fond of this area, especially in winter when deciduous trees are bare and migrating long-eared and northern saw-whet owls can be spotted sleeping during the day in the protective pine trees.
On December 3, 2006, the Contemplation Circle, which was given in honor of Arthur Ross, was dedicated inside the Pinetum. Conservancy craftsmen and gardeners created the Contemplation Circle by building rustic benches and railings and installing new plantings, including five Mugo Pines and a Chinese Elm 'Central park Splendor,' as well as coralberry, winter jasmine and forthergilla. Vinca minor was added for ground cover, as well as a selection of daffodils and scilla.
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