INDEX
Inaugural H. Marc Cathey Award
National Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center
Noxious Weed List Amended
2000 Perennial of the Year
Judges Wanted for 2000 Flower Show

Inaugural H. Marc Cathey Award

The first H. Marc Cathey Award and Medal will be presented at AHS’s 2000 Annual Conference in Houston, Texas, in March. Formerly known as the Scientific Award, it is given every other year to an individual who has demonstrated excellence in horticultural research. The AHS Board of Directors renamed the award to recognize the achievements of H. Marc Cathey, currently AHS’s President Emeritus and the inspiration behind the AHS Plant Heat Zone Map, which was introduced in 1997.

Cathey, a renowned plant researcher, served as president of AHS from 1974 to 1978 and again from 1993 to 1997. From 1956 to 1980, Cathey conducted research at the United States Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Maryland, focusing on the relationship of environmental factors such as light, temperature, and exposure to pollution on a wide range of plants. He was also fourth director of the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.; the first D.C. Kiplinger Chair Holder at Ohio State University; and national chair for florist and nursery review at the USDA.

Nominations are being accepted now for the inaugural H. Marc Cathey Award and Medal. For details on how to make a nomination, call (800) 777-7931 ext. 120, or visit our Web site. The deadline for nominations is December 15, 1999.

National Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center

A cooperative agreement signed in July between the USDA and Ohio State University in Columbus sets the stage for the development of the Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center (OPGC), the first gene bank specifically designed to preserve the germplasm—genetic information in the form of seeds, bulbs, cuttings, and individual cells—for herbaceous ornamental plants.

The OPGC, which will be established on the Ohio State campus, will be part of the USDA’s National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS), a network of gene banks and seed repositories initiated in 1946. Floriculture industry officials say the center fills a void in the national system for safeguarding food, fiber, and ornamental crops from disease epidemics and loss of genetic diversity. “Until last year, the NPGS hasn’t had the resources to pay sufficient attention to herbaceous ornamental germplasm,” says Peter Bretting, national program leader for Plant Germplasm and Genomes for the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. “We’re moving into an area of agriculture which historically has been under-invested.”

Because plant breeders often lack extensive storage facilities for genetic material, older or less commercially viable genes are sometimes discarded. The OGPC ensures that the germplasm of wild or heirloom plants—which may in the future provide genes resistant to disease or adapted to changing climatic conditions—won’t be irrevocably lost at the expense of breeding plants with more desirable colors or better fragrance. “It’s quite likely the varieties that will be stored here will contain the genetic keys to advance medicines, create insect and disease resistance, and provide other economically important traits,” says Bob Moser, vice president for agricultural administration and executive dean of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at OSU.

In October, James L. Corfield, chairman-elect of the American Horticultural Society’s board of directors, was appointed interim director of the OPGC. Corfield has more than 20 years of experience in the horticulture industry, most recently as director of the Seeds Business Group at Vaughan’s Seed Company, Downer’s Grove, Illinois.

Corfield will oversee the process of upgrading and converting existing facilities, hiring research staff, and putting together short- and long-range business plans. He will also spearhead the recruiting process for a permanent director. “This facility will give breeders all over the world access to genes they might not otherwise be able to work with,” says Corfield, “which means that in the long term it will provide tremendous benefits both to the horticulture industry and to home gardeners.”

An initial government appropriation of $200,000 in 1999 helped establish the OPGC. Additional funding is expected to come both from government and floriculture industry sources.

Noxious Weed List Amended

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which regulates the entry and spread of non-indigenous plants and animals in the United States, has added two more species to its noxious weed list: wetland nightshade (Solanum tampicense) and caulerpa (Caulerpa taxifolia). Plants on this list are considered to be destructive to the environment and their import or sale in the United States is prohibited.

Wetland nightshade, native to Central America, has invaded many parts of southern Florida’s wetlands and poses a potential threat to the ecosystem of the Everglades. The stems of this sprawling perennial, which can reach 15 feet long, are covered with prickles, as are its leaves. Plants mesh together as they grow, forming a blanket that can smother understory plants as well as climb tree trunks.

Caulerpa, a seaweed originally from the Pacific Ocean, is sold for use in public and home aquariums. An accidental release of the plant from an aquarium in Monaco in the mid-1980s reportedly resulted in its proliferation in the Mediterranean Sea. While it has so far not been a problem in North America, the USDA has placed this plant on its noxious weed list as a pre-emptive measure.

2000 Perennial of the Year