Boyce Thompson Arboretum is the oldest and largest botanical garden in the state of Arizona. It is one of the oldest botanical institutions west of the Mississippi River. Founded in 1924 as a desert plant research facility and “living museum”, the arboretum is located in the Sonoran Desert on 392 acres (159 ha) along Queen Creek and beneath the towering volcanic remnant, Picketpost Mountain. Boyce Thompson Arboretum is on U.S. Highway 60, an hour's drive east from Phoenix and 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Superior, Arizona.
A walking trail winds through groves of trees at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.
William Boyce Thompson, circa 1928.
The Smith Building with greenhouses, circa 1926.
Spring wildflowers
The Sonoran Desert is a hot desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States. It is the hottest desert in both Mexico and the United States. It has an area of 260,000 square kilometers (100,000 sq mi).
Saguaro National Park in Arizona
The Sonoran Desert near Tucson, Arizona during winter.
Velvet mesquite (Prosopis velutina)
Washingtonia filifera in Anza Borrego Desert State Park
