Kansas Wesleyan University will plant three trees on campus to celebrate Arbor Day on Friday.

According to the school, a Flashfire Caddo sugar maple, Espresso Kentucky coffeetree and a Sterling silver linden tree (donated by the city of Salina Parks and Forestry) will be planted in a 1 p.m. ceremony beginning at the Outdoor Living Room west of Pioneer Hall.

Students, faculty and staff at KWU, and the city of Salina staff will assist with the planting. The public is invited.

Caddo sugar maples are heat-tolerant and provide red fall color; Kentucky coffee trees are tough and reliable native shade trees; and linden trees are known for adaptability and supporting pollinators.

The KWU tree advisory committee, composed of students, community members and faculty, has been working for the past four years on a tree inventory to identify and tag more than 230 trees on campus.  

K-State Research and Extension Horticulture Agent Jason Graves — a member of KWU’s tree advisory committee — said trees create biodiversity, provide ecosystem services, enhance property value and improve quality of life and health.

Kansas Wesleyan has earned Tree Campus Higher Education recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for the past four years. The city of Salina is a longtime Tree City USA.