In botanical collection management, two essential terms often come up: Accession and Plant Material. Understanding these terms is crucial for effectively managing your collection with Hortis.
What is an Accession?
An Accession is a standardized record representing a unique entry in a botanical collection. It refers to one or more plant materials belonging to a single taxon, sharing the same origin, acquired at the same time, and documented under a unique identifier.
Key Characteristics of an Accession:
Unique Identifier: Accession numbers in Hortis follow the format YYYY-####, where YYYY is the year of acquisition, and #### is a sequential number.
Comprehensive Data: An accession record includes essential information like the scientific name, provenance, source (donor or supplier), and date of acquisition.
Fixed Identity: Once created, an accession’s identity does not change, even if any other information changes, such as the scientific name or associated plant materials are relocated or removed.
What is Plant Material?
Plant Material refers to the living or preserved components derived from an accession, such as seeds, seedlings, or mature plants.
Key Characteristics of Plant Material:
Direct Link to Accession: Each plant material is directly connected to a specific accession.
Individual Qualifiers: Plant materials are identified using unique qualifiers (e.g., /A, /B, /C or /1, /2) to distinguish different parts or forms of the same accession.
Dynamic Status: Plant material records include information on planting date, status, quantity, location in the garden, and more.
How Accessions and Plant Material Work Together
An accession is a record of origin and identity, while plant materials are the physical entities derived from it.
For example, an accession may represent a group of seeds collected from a single wild source, while plant materials are the seedlings grown from those seeds.
Managing these separately allows for precise tracking of a plant’s history, status, and location within the garden.
Why This Distinction Matters in Hortis
Understanding the difference between accession and plant material helps you:
Maintain Accurate Records: Ensure clarity in tracking your collection’s origin and composition.
Enhance Data Integrity: Avoid confusion when adding new plants or updating existing ones.
Improve Collection Management: Easily monitor plant health, status, and location.
When we have only one plant, why do we need a qualifier?
In botanical collections, the use of qualifiers appended after the accession number is a well-established practice to help track individual plants, even when an accession initially consists of just one specimen. This approach ensures consistency and future-proofing. Although a single specimen may not seem to require a qualifier, the situation can change over time. For instance, the plant may be divided, propagated asexually, or otherwise multiplied, resulting in multiple plants derived from the same genetic material.
By consistently using qualifiers from the beginning, even for single-plant accessions, we avoid confusion and maintain a clear record-keeping system that is prepared for more complex scenarios later. Without this approach, we would risk introducing a different kind of complexity—tracking exceptions rather than following a consistent method.
