Genetic Resources of Rare Fruits and Ornamentals

Plant genetic resources play an important role in ensuring the food, economic, environmental, and social security of humankind. They are an integral part of agricultural biodiversity. Fruit crops and some of their wild relatives with valuable traits are important sources of nutrients for people now and in the future. In many fruit-growing regions of the world, crop production is drastically affected by abiotic and biotic stresses. New cultivars of traditional crops, rare fruits, and wild relatives can help improve food resources and fruit growing is a significant driver of economic growth. The ornamental characteristics of fruit plants provide aesthetic satisfaction to people.

The translation of this book into English will make plant resources more accessible to many interested people around the world. The translation initiative belongs to Dr. Kim Hummer, a retired Research Leader, genebank curator, and well-known expert in the fields of horticulture, plant breeding, and genetic resources. We are grateful to her for donating her time, knowledge, experience, and hard work to ensure the production of what is essentially a new book.

The original book, which is the first part of the planned complete description of our collections, has been reorganized. The descriptions of the accessions are arranged in alphabetical order of the Latin names of the families and species within each crop. English species names and the etymology of cultivar names have been added to the text.

We hope that this publication will be a useful source of reference for both professional and amateur gardeners.

Volodymyr Mezhenskyj and Liudmyla Mezhenska