THE AUSTRALIAN CULTIVAR REGISTRATION AUTHORITY, ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES

The Australian Cultivar Registration Authority (ACRA) was originally established as a result of an approach by the Secretary of the International Commission for the Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants to the Society for Growing Australian Plants (SGAP) in 1958. The Commission's Secretary suggested that a national registration authority should be set up to register cultivars arising from the endemic flora of Australia. The proposal came at an opportune time, because there had been very little interest in the cultivation of Australian plants in Australia until the formation of the SGAP. The establishment of a registration authority also had the potential to keep accurate records on the "development" of the Australian flora which would be available in the future. The suggestion became a reality in 1963 when the ACRA was established at a meeting between the SGAP and the staff of the National Herbarium in Melbourne. SGAP offered to financially support the ACRA and it has continued to do so as required since then.

The ACRA functioned with various degrees of success for the next ten years. While not registering any cultivars during this time, it produced a number of checklists of cultivar names and established the ground rules for the functioning of the Authority. In 1973 the Authority was relocated to the Canberra Botanic Gardens (now the Australian National Botanic Gardens - ANBG) because it was better equipped to run the Authority and its charter was to grow only Australian flora. The ANBG was also carrying out research and plant development work. The ANBG also appointed a permanent Registrar to the Authority, with one third of one officers time being used for this purpose.

The first action of the relocated Authority was to ensure adequate state and industry representation on the Authority. Representatives from each state Botanic Garden and the Federation of Australian Nurserymen's Associations were invited onto the Authority. Meetings of the Authority have been held on an annual basis since 1974. The Authority is still responsible for the registration of cultivars arising from the Australian flora, excluding Leptospermum, Rhododendron and family Orchidaceae, for which registration authorities already exist. The Acacia Registration Authority, previously based in the United States, has now been given to the ACRA, and an agreement has been reached with the Leptospermum Registration Authority in New Zealand that Australian Leptospermum cultivars will be described and registered by the ACRA and the information passed on to the New Zealand Authority for listing. The ACRA is sponsored by the ANBG by provision of office space and facilities, stationary, data storage, postage and telephone/fax facilities.