Mission:
The Floral and Nursery Plants Research Unit of the U.S. National Arboretum conducts a very broad based program contributing to basic and developmental research and the implementation of new technologies for the florist and nursery industries. Emphasis is placed on developing new horticulturally and ornamentally superior floral and woody nursery plants that also exhibit resistance to diseases, insects and environmental stress. In addition, the Unit has the responsibility to collect, propagate, maintain, distribute, evaluate and preserve representative levels of inherent genetic diversity of woody landscape plants as part of the National Plant Germplasm system.