North American Plant Collections Consortium

The North American Plant Collections Consortium (NAPCC) is a group of North American botanical gardens and arboreta that aims to improve the continent's living plant collections, and enhance the availability of plant germplasm. The consortium is administered by the American Public Gardens Association (APGA) from Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania, in conjunction with the USDA Agricultural Research Service.

According to the consortium's web site, it has three strategic goals:

• Increase the number of NAPCC Collections to represent the major genera of ornamental plants found in APGA member gardens;
• Facilitate coordination of NAPCC plant collections; and
• Raise professional plant curation standards in public gardens.

The consortium is intended to represent woody and herbaceous ornamentals, both native and exotic. The main objective for each consortium member is to assemble the most comprehensive possible group of plants within a particular taxon, collecting plants that are both taxonomically and genetically from different populations throughout the natural range of the plants. As of March 2006, consortium members and their collections included:

• Arboretum at Arizona State University
  • Phoenix; 300 taxa, 40+ varieties

• Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
  • Acer; 74 taxa
  • Carya; 16 taxa, 10 spp
  • Fagus; 23 taxa
  • Syringa; 238 taxa, 20 spp
  • Tsuga; 72 taxa, 7 spp

• Chicago Botanic Garden
  • Spiraea; 52 taxa

• Cornell Plantations
  • Acer; 98 taxa

• Fullerton Arboretum (California State University)
  • Citrus; 36 accessions, representing 20 taxa

• Ganna Walska Lotusland
  • Cycads; 170 taxa, including 9 hybrids, 16 undescribed taxa

• Green Spring Gardens Park (Provisional)
  • Hamamelis; 13 taxa, including all 4 spp

• Henry Foundation for Botanical Research
  • Magnolia; 15 taxa, native to US

• Highstead Arboretum
  • Kalmia; 82 taxa, 3 spp, 76 cultivars, 4 forms, 2 hybrids

• The Huntington Botanical Gardens
  • Camellia; 1,120 taxa

• George Landis Arboretum
  • Quercus of the Northeast U.S.; 14 taxa, 9 spp

• Morton Arboretum
  • Malus; 9 out of 10 known species, plus cultivars
  • Ulmus; 78 taxa, 35 spp, 43 hybrids and cultivars

• Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania
  • Abies; 35 taxa, including cultivars

• Mt. Cuba Center
  • Hexastylis; 19 taxa, including 10 spp
  • Trillium; 47 taxa

• Norfolk Botanical Garden
  • Camellia; 525 taxa
  • Hydrangaceae; 144 taxa

• North Carolina Arboretum
  • Rhododendron; 15 spp, native azaleas

• Polly Hill Arboretum
  • Stewartia; 19 taxa

• Rhododendron Species Foundation and Botanical Garden
  • Rhododendron subsect. Fortunea; 104 acc, 15 taxa

• San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum
  • Mesoamerican Cloud Forest; 550 taxa, primarily from tropical mountains of southern Mexico and Central America

• Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
  • Dudleya; 52 taxa

• Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College
  • Ilex; 200 taxa
  • Magnolia; 109 taxa

• Toledo Botanical Garden
  • Hosta; 2500 accessions, 43 spp, 357 cultivars

• United States National Arboretum
  • Buxus; 137 spp and cultivars

• Washington Park Arboretum
  • Ilex; 47 taxa

See also

• List of botanical gardens in the United States
• National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens - British equivalent

External links

• Official website