On Thu, 25 Feb 1999 BeBonsai@aol.com wrote: > I'm confused. What is The National Plant Germplasm System? Forgive my > ignorance, but I am really new here. AND On Fri, 26 Feb 1999, Rain wrote: > -> Goto http://www-ars-grin.gov/npgs/ This page is for the National Plant > -> Germplasm System and has links to all necessary information on obtaining > > Sorry, I have no Web access. How else can I reach them? The web address should be www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/ The National Plant Germplasm System (or NPGS) is just onre the many different parts of the USDA. The NPGS "is a cooperative effort by public (State and Federal) and private organizations to preserve the genetic diversity of plants." It does this by "acquiring crop germplasm, preserving crop germplasm, evaluating crop germplasm, documenting crop germplasm, and distributing crop germplasm." I personally have only vegetable, fruit, and nut crops in the NPGS. I don't know if ornamental plants are also preserved by the NPGS. To locate any desired plant, you make use of the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). GRIN is a very easy-to-use database manager that allows searches of the NPGS database of plants. "There are more than 450,000 accessions (distinct varieties of plants) in the GRIN database", so following a copy of the search page (called Accession Area Queries): _________________________________________________________________ Simple queries Use this option to search for a single cultivar, PI number, scientific name or other identifier. Accession identifier: ______________________________ Submit Request _________________________________________________________________ Complex queries Use this option to restrict the query by more than one criteria. Accession identifier(s): Individual PI identifier or range of identifiers: PI ________ to PI ________ (e.g., 500000 to 500010) Non-PI identifier or range of identifiers: [A1..] ________ to ________ (e.g., NSGC 4000 to 4015) Submit Request or choose other criteria. Other identifiers and names: Other type of identifier: _________________________ Pedigree contains: _________________________ Submit Request or choose other criteria. Taxonomy: To limit your search, enter information into one of the fields below: Taxon: _________________________ (e.g., Zea or Zea mays) Family: _________________________ (e.g., Poaceae) Common name: _________________________ (e.g., Peanut) Submit Request or choose other criteria. Location: Country: ____________________ State: ____________________ (Please use full state name) Additional Criteria: Choose a repository to limit your request to: [ALL - All Repositories.......................] Choose a type of Improvement Status: [Any Status..................] Choose a type of Reproductive uniformity: [Any Status......] Check one to limit your selection(s). (_) Any time (_) Last 3 months (_) Last 6 months (_) Current year (_) Previous [1.] year(s) (_) Specific year, enter year: ____ (e.g., 1965) Check the box to sort accessions by scientific name and plant name (cultivar, donor identifier, etc.) instead of by accession identifier. [_] Taxonomic sort. Check the box to include historical records. [_] Search both active collections and historical records. Choose the number of hits to select: [10...] _________________________________________________________________ Submit Request Clear Form ----------------------------------------------------------------------- PI stands for Plant Identification. Eacxh seperate plant accession is assigned a unique PI number. Ordering Germplasm Germplasm is available in small quantities for research purposes. To order material: 1. If you are from a foreign country, refer to this information first. [This is a LINK to seperate information] 2. From inside or outside the U.S., do one of the following: + Fill out the Request Form + Send e-mail to the maintenance site of the accession (found with accession query) or to the National Germplasm Resources Laboratory (orders@ars-grin.gov). Please provide the following information: o Your name, o Organization, o Address, o Phone number, o Special handling instructions, and o Accession identifiers desired (use a separate line for each identifier). Germplasm or Information Request First Name: ______________________________ Last Name: ________________________________________ Organization: __________________________________________________ Address: __________________________________________________ Address: __________________________________________________ Address: __________________________________________________ City: ____________________ State: ____________________ Zip Code: __________ Country (if not USA): ______________________________ Phone: ______________________________ FAX: ______________________________ EMail: ________________________________________ Special instructions: ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Items to order (one item per line): ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Intended Use of Material: ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Choose repository to submit order to: [PEO - Plant Exchange Office....................] [_] Click here to send a carbon-copy of your order to your email address (as specified above). _________________________________________________________________ Submit Order Clear Form ==================================================================== Bob Batson L 39 12 14 N 94 33 16 W bob@sky.net Kansas City TCS - Mystic Fire Priest USDA zone 5b ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Under the most controlled conditions, the experimental apparatus will do exactly as it pleases.