THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMPLETE REFERENCE COLLECTION OF CULTIVATED BETULA

Living plant collections are of vital importance for research on cultivated plants. Betula is a poorly (and incompletely) known genus. An approach to get research on a solid footing is explained. The main goals are the realization of a reference collection of birches and its optimal exploitation as a basis for cultivation, as a genebank and for further research.

Pleas will be made for the conservation of similar collections after the termination of the research project, and for follow-up care bij specialists for the taxa in question.