ISHS Acta Horticulturae 769: XXVII International Horticultural Congress - IHC2006: International Symposium on Asian Plants with Unique Horticultural Potential
THE ROLE OF BOTANICAL GARDENS IN HORTICULTURAL SCIENCE |
| Authors: | Dongyan Hu, Zuoshuang Zhang |
| Keywords: | breeding, collection, education, promotion |
| Abstract:
Since the first modern botanical garden was founded in Padua, Italy in 1545, botanical gardens have tremendous social and economic impact for both horticultural science and industry. There are 2479 botanical gardens in 167 countries in the world, which are responsible for living collection, conservation, and research. Moreover, many new horticultural cultivars have been bred in the botanical gardens and distributed to horticultural institutes and industries. The germplasm in botanical gardens is the essential resource for breeding work. The collections and selections from both wild (species, subspecies, varieties, and forms) and cultivated (cultivars) populations in the botanical gardens have been widely utilized by horticultural professionals. Beijing Botanical Garden (BBG), for example, has collected 61 ornamental peach cultivars, which can be grouped into six groups and 12 forms. Both morphological and molecular features have been applied for studying genetic relationships among ornamental peach cultivars. Two early blooming cultivars and one variegated leaf cultivar were bred and selected by BBG. They have been widely cultivated in Chinese gardens. BBG has been celebrating the Ornamental Peach Festival since 1989. There are more than 5000 ornamental peach trees cultivated and this offers an opportunity to educate the public about plants and their horticultural applications. Obviously, botanical gardens are not only the resources and institutes for horticultural field, but also the promoters of horticultural science to the public through plant collections and educational programs. | |
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