History of Plant Introductions to the U.S.
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plant introduction refers to the importation of living plants for agricultural and economic use. The history of plant introduction and exploration in the U.S. has been reviewed in numerous publications.
Colonial Settlement With the arrival of European settlers in the Americas, indigenous food systems were largely displaced by domesticated crops familiar to Europeans. Seeking to recreate their agricultural traditions, settlers introduced a variety of grains, fruits, and vegetables to the New World, aiming to cultivate the land in ways that mirrored European practices. Lyman Carrier, in
Beginnings of Agriculture in America, quotes an Englishman's letter: As interest grew among farmers and botanical enthusiasts for new plants and diverse crops, the government gradually took on an active role in the introduction and exploration of plant material—efforts that had previously been driven by individuals and agricultural societies. Pioneering figures such as
John Bartram,
Henry Laurens,
Benjamin Franklin, and
Thomas Jefferson played a key role in early American plant exploration and exchange. During this period, plant exchange relied on statesman and wealthy landowners to import seeds for cultivation. Jefferson received annual seed shipments from
André Thouin, head gardener at the
Jardin des Plantes in Paris, to experiment at his
Monticello estate. One of the earliest institutional efforts, the
Trustees' Garden in what is now
Savannah, Georgia, was established in 1733 as an experimental site to test the adaptability of agricultural plants to the American climate. The oldest surviving botanical garden in North America,
Bartram's Garden founded in 1728, is believed to contain the last of three original ginkgoes introduced in 1785 to the United States from China, via London. The
Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, established by
Joseph Banks in the 1770s, became an imperial hub for plant distribution to
British Colonies. With the support of plant collectors like
David Nelson and naturalists such as
John Ellis, Kew Gardens helped facilitate the movement of valuable plants to the New World. In 1785,
John Beale Bordley encouraged the formation of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture—the oldest agricultural society in the United States—to promote the best methods of scientific farming practice. These early agricultural societies played a critical role in the development of American agriculture, acting in many ways as precursors to state and federal agricultural agencies. They served as hubs for sharing knowledge, conducting agricultural experiments, and facilitating the exchange of seeds and plants among farmers.
Early United States In 1819, the U.S. government officially recognized the importance of plant introductions when the Secretary of the Treasury issued a circular directing American naval officers and consular officials stationed in foreign countries to collect and send seeds of useful plants back to the United States. This marked the beginning of formal federal support for plant industries. In 1818, Congress chartered the
Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences to help modernize American farming practices, followed in 1820 by the establishment of the
U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. as a national plant science institution. Between 1838 and 1842,
William Rich, serving as the official botanist aboard the
Wilkes Expedition, embarked on a global voyage to the Pacific with the objective of securing noteworthy agricultural seeds, roots, and plants. The extensive botanical collections gathered during the expedition led to the construction of a two-section, 50-foot greenhouse behind the Patent Office Building to house and study the specimens—nearly 500 different species and over 1,000 individual plants representing 254 species. In July 1838, Congress granted
Henry Perrine a parcel of land on
Indian Key in the
Florida Keys with the explicit purpose of introducing useful tropical plants for cultivation in the U.S. Perrine successfully introduced around 200 tropical plant species; among these, the
Key lime stands out for its lasting impact. After Henry Perrine's death, his original land grant was relocated by his wife to
Coconut Grove, Florida. Today, this site is home to the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Subtropical Horticultural Research Station, one of the oldest NPGS genebank sites. Between 1836 and 1862, the
U.S. Patent Office—first under the
Department of State and later the
Department of the Interior—administered a plant collection and distribution program.
Henry L. Ellsworth, Commissioner of Patents, successfully petitioned
Congress in 1839 for $1,000 annually for an Agriculture Division to support farming. These funds were used to collect seeds and distribute them through the
U.S. Postal Service. Ellsworth earned the title "Father of the United States Department of Agriculture" for these efforts. By 1848, the Agricultural Section of the Patent Office was conducting agricultural experiments, procuring agricultural statistics and had distributed 250,000 packages of seeds. Today, the USDA has expanded this mission to include plant breeders and scientists around the world in the public, private, and nongovernmental organization sectors, distributing over 250,000 seed samples annually. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was officially established in 1862 when President
Abraham Lincoln signed the Department of Agriculture Organic Act into law. Among the Department's initial seven mandates was the collection, testing, and distribution of seeds and plants. {{Blockquote
Isaac Newton was appointed Commissioner of the newly formed USDA. Under Newton's leadership, the U.S. Propagation Gardens was created to propagate and test new plant materials to determine their suitability for cultivation in the United States. This initiative laid the groundwork for organized plant introduction and evaluation. Newton appointed
William Saunders as the first Superintendent of the Division of Experimental Gardens and Grounds. Saunders would go on to have a profound impact: he was a founding member of the
National Grange, one of the earliest agricultural advocacy organizations in the U.S. In 1871,
Frederick Watts became Commissioner of Agriculture and significantly expanded scientific research and international engagement by exchanging 3,450 packages of seed with foreign governments and institutions. These exchanges included notable botanical centers such as
Kew Gardens in London, the
Royal Gardens of Melbourne in Australia, and the
Imperial and Royal Ministries of Agricultural Affairs of
Austria-Hungary. During this period, the USDA also established several specialized divisions to support agricultural science: Seed (1868), Botany (1869), Forestry (1880), Pomology (1886), Fiber Crops (1890), Vegetable Pathology (1890), and Agrostology (1895). Initially headed by a Commissioner, the USDA was elevated to
Cabinet status in 1889, marking a significant expansion of its scope and influence. In 1897,
James Wilson, who would go on to become the longest-serving Cabinet Secretary in U.S. history, took a major step in advancing plant introductions into the United States. Wilson secured $20,000 in federal funding specifically for the study and distribution of plant material. This appropriation marked the beginning of a scientific approach to introducing new crops, accelerating the USDA's mission to provide American farmers with improved and diverse crop varieties. At the time, seed was sent almost entirely to members of Congress for distribution directly to the farmers. The USDA began to work with
State Agricultural Experiment Stations (SAES) to evaluate new crops in
experimental gardens for potential incorporation into U.S. agricultural production. The Department also took on a role of promoting new agricultural industries by helping to develop markets for these crops. Commissioner
Norman Colman emphasized the value of these efforts, stating that "the increased production of wheat, oats, and other cereals and grasses, has, by reason of the wide distribution of improved varieties, paid tenfold the entire amount expended by the Department of Agriculture since it was established." By 1901, large-scale seed distribution to farmers had shifted to private industry and the SAES system.
Twentieth Century In 1898, the USDA created the
Section of Seed and Plant Introduction, later integrated in the
Bureau of Plant Industry in 1901. Its mission was to introduce foreign seeds and plants that could improve U.S. agriculture. The Sections founding director
David Fairchild launched a global exploration program, employing agricultural explorers like
Frank N. Meyer,
Niels E. Hansen,
Wilson Popenoe and
Palemon Howard (P.H.) Dorsett. Their collected materials were documented in the "Inventory of Plants Introduced", a catalog that assigned sequential Plant Introduction (PI) numbers—a system developed by
O.F. Cook that included the plant's botanical and common names, collector, origin, and a brief description. This system is still used today in the NPGS, providing a direct link between early plant exploration and modern genebank curation. This systematic approach provides scientific continuity by requiring plant scientists to cite each PI used in their experiments. By 1933, under Fairchild's leadership, the Section had acquired more than 80,000 unique PI accessions (a permanent record of a genetically unique plant from a specific geographic location). These plant introductions include
durum wheat,
Smyrna fig,
Japanese rice,
Corsican citron,
mango,
almonds,
Date Palm,
Egyptian cotton, and
alfalfa to name a few. Among the most influential plant explorers of the early 20th century was
Frank Meyer, who introduced more than 2,500 plant varieties to the United States. He spent thirteen year traveling through eastern and northern China collecting samples for the USDA. In recognition of his contributions, the Meyer Medal, awarded by the
Crop Science Society of America, honors individuals for outstanding work in
plant genetic resources. Another notable plant explorer was
P.H. Dorsett, who, between 1929 and 1930, collected nearly 3,000 soybean accessions from China, Japan, Manchuria, and Korea. At the time, however, there were no dedicated germplasm repositories for long-term preservation; consequently, none of the original 114 Plant Introductions (PIs) were preserved, as they were all distributed for immediate use. Today, just 24 cultivars derived from Dorsett's PI collections remain a part of the U.S. National Soybean Germplasm Collection. As the number of plant introductions increased, the USDA took steps to support their evaluation and integration into U.S. agriculture. The Section was responsible for distributing new plant materials to
State Agricultural Experiment Stations and other scientific cooperators for testing. To further this effort, the USDA established the Laboratory of Plant Life History in 1904, led by
W.T. Swingle, and the Office of Dry-Land Agriculture in 1906 to study cultivation practices for new species. Additionally, a network of Federal Plant Introduction Gardens was created to evaluate, propagate, and quarantine introduced plants. The first was founded in Miami, Florida in 1898, followed by gardens in Chico, California (1904), Savannah, Georgia (1919), Glen Dale, Maryland (1919), the latter facility being largely used as a quarantine center to prevent the introduction of plant pests. These gardens served as hubs for short-term propagation and national distribution, though they were not designed for long-term maintenance. The development of the NPGS unfolded gradually over several decades. The
U.S. National Arboretum began operations in Washington, D.C. in 1927. In 1946, Congress passed the Research and Marketing Act, which provided funding to develop new crops suited for different regions of the United States. As a result, four Regional Plant Introduction Stations were established: Ames, Iowa (1947); Geneva, New York (1948); Griffin, Georgia (1949); and Pullman, Washington (1952). Their core responsibilities included acquiring both foreign and native plant germplasm, preserving and evaluating introduced materials, and serving as critical repositories for the nation’s genetic resources. Each station’s mission reflected the agricultural priorities and environmental conditions of its geographic region. Regional Station's were created in partnership with
State Agricultural Experiment Stations (SAES) and the
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES). Under this joint agreement the SAES provided land, helped establish laboratories, greenhouses, and office space, while USDA and the CSREES provided most of the funding for equipment, operations, and staffing. Additional facilities further broadened the scope of the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS). The Inter-regional Introduction Station (now the U.S. Potato Genebank) was established in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin (1949). The National Small Grains Collection (1948) in Beltsville, Maryland was later relocated to Aberdeen, Idaho in 1989. Major crop collections were also consolidated into dedicated genebanks during this period, including cotton in College Station, Texas (1955), long-season soybean in Urbana, Illinois (1948), and short-season soybean in Stoneville, Mississippi (1949)—the soybean collections have since been combined into the Urbana, Illinois collection. In 1955, another Inter-regional Introduction Station was founded in Prosser, Washington as a plant quarantine center for fruit and ornamental trees. This facility later became part of the National Clean Plant Network in 2008, supporting the safe exchange and propagation of virus-free plant material. This expansion marked a significant shift toward the long-term preservation of plant germplasm, ensuring that the effort of earlier plant explorers would not be lost. At the time, it was estimated that only 5–10% of the plant introductions since 1898 remained available in these collections. At the time, germplasm material was sent directly to breeders and researchers for their experiments, with no obligation to maintain them beyond their immediate usefulness. As a result, most germplasm
accessions obtained before 1948 are no longer available; however, many important breeding lines and cultivars that were developed still carry genes derived from those early plant introductions. To safeguard these irreplaceable genetic resources, the National Seed Storage Laboratory—now known as the National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation (NLGRP)—was established in 1958 in Fort Collins, Colorado. Unlike the Regional Stations, which focus on the active distribution of materials to plant breeders and researchers, the NLGRP serves as the nation's primary
backup storage facility. == Current Operation ==