A body was discovered yesterday morning in Arnold Arboretum, a research and educational institution administered by Harvard University located several miles southwest of downtown Boston.

The body was discovered 8:47 a.m., said Boston Police Department spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll in an interview with the Boston Globe.

According to the Boston police, the incident may have been a suicide. The police declined to release other information, including the victim’s identity.

William “Ned” Friedman, an evolutionary biologist from the University of Colorado who will fill the vacancy of directorship for the Arboretum on Jan. 1, did not return request for comment on the issue, and Julie A. Warsowe, the Arboretum’s manager of visitor education, referred all media inquiries to the Boston police.

Billed as one of the world’s leading centers for the study of plants, the Arnold Arboretum is the oldest public arboretum in North America, having been founded in 1872, according to its website. It occupies 265 acres of land and houses nearly 15,000 plants.

Open to the general public, the Arboretum is part of the Emerald Necklace, a 7-mile-long network of park systems along Boston’s western edge.

The Office of the Provost oversees the Arboretum, and the City of Boston owns the land. In 1882, Boston agreed to lease the land to Harvard for 1,000 years.

“Organismic and Evolutionary Biology 111: Plants and Environmental Sensing,” expected to be offered next fall, will include field trips to the Arboretum.

—Staff Writer Sirui Li can be reached at sli@college.harvard.edu