Core Arboretum is a 91-acre West Virginia University preserve and botanical garden along the Monongahela River in Morgantown, set aside in 1948 for the study of biology and botany through the efforts of Earl Lemley Core. Renamed for Core in 1975, it includes old-growth forest on a steep hillside and flood plain, walking trails through dense woods, and lawn areas planted with specimen trees. Its varied habitats support several hundred species of native West Virginia trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, including some trees believed to be more than 200 years old, and it is especially known for spring ephemeral wildflowers, birds, and other wildlife.