Project Number: 1230-21000-039-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Aug 05, 2003
End Date: Aug 04, 2008

Objective:
Investigate classification, systematic relationships, and genetic structure within genera and families with current or potential importance for landscape and nursery use; maintain and enhance the herbarium collection of the National Arboretum; investigate the identity and basic biological characteristics of selected invasive woody plants in the U. S.; and ensure that botanical and cultivar names in use for cultivated plants, and for wild plants that may be of relevance for breeding work, are described in accordance with the technical standards of the field and that erroneous or ambiguous usages are corrected

Approach:
Investigations will utilize a variety of different data types, primarily morphological data, DNA sequence variation, and variation in single-locus DNA markers within variable sites in the genome, analyzed using phylogenetic analyses and other multivariate statistical methods. Organisms will be studied in the field, herbarium, laboratory, and garden.