A History: The U.S.D.A.--Longwood Ornamental Plant Exploration Program

Date
1977-06
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Our gardens contain many exotic plants imported in a variety of ways. The earliest ornamental plant exchanges resulted from the efforts of private individuals: John Bartram , Benjamin Franklin, and others, in the 1700s. The passage of the Treasury Circular Act of 1827, although offering no financial assistance, was the first governmental recognition of the importance of plant importation. Next, with the establishment of the United States Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) in 1862, the government became active in seed and plant procurement and distribution. Later, during the early 1900s, plant exploration reached its peak with the legendary work of explorers such as Ernest H. Wilson, David G. Fairchild, and Frank N. Meyer. During the Depression and World War II interest and support waned and ornamental plant exploration came to a standstill, but in 1956 foreign plant exploration for ornamentals was revived with the establishment of the U.S.D.A.-Longwood Ornamental Plant Exploration Program. Longwood Gardens, Inc., entered into an agreement with the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S.D.A. for the purpose of ornamental plant exploration in foreign countries. The cooperative contract described the arrangement between the two agencies: Longwood was to provide funds for the exploration, and the U.S.D.A. was to furnish the facilities and manpower for quarantine, propagation, evaluation and distribution , and associated scientific programs, According t o the agreement, the major goal of the program was to introduce new plants "which will have potential value to the future of ornamental horticulture . . ." This was accomplished by exploring in regions previously unexplored, by collecting plants for possible use in breeding programs, and by collecting plants from wild or cultivated sources for introduction directly into the field . Before the plants could be released to the horticultural trade, there were procedures that had to be completed by the U.S.D.A. First , after the plants entered the country, they had to be processed through inspection centers. Next, during quarantine, they were propagated and increased in numbers. Finally, they were evaluated and distributed by both Longwood and the U.S.D.A. to botanic gardens, arboreta, nurserymen, and agricultural stations for further evaluation before final release to the horticultural public. From 1956 to 1970, as a part of this program thirteen explorations were made of various regions of the world, including the South Seas, the Far East, Asia, Europe, South America, and Australia . There were two reasons for the selection of areas to be explored. These were the amount of prior exploration and the presumed benefits from the types of plant material available there. Explorers were chosen for their expertise in certain plant groups and for their knowledge of a specific country or region. These thirteen explorations produced over 10,000 plant introductions. Some of these plants were used in breeding programs, others were released after evaluation to the public, and still others will be evaluated and released in the future.
Description
Keywords
Horticulture, Plant introductions, History- public garden, Plant exploration, Longwood Gardens
Citation