VOA健康报道2023--Little-known Garden Supports US Nursery Industry

Placed among the busy streets of Washington, D.C. is a large public garden that many Americans have never heard of.

The U.S. National Arboretum¹ includes a collection of flowering plants called azaleas, a field of native plants called ferns, and flowering trees in the dogwood tree area.

Government scientists are in charge of the 183-hectare area. Their main goal is to strengthen the U.S. economy by making sure an important kind of agriculture, called the nursery industry, continues to perform well.

"What we do is support the American nursery industry ... which is really one of the largest forms of agriculture," said Richard Olsen, director of the National Arboretum.

He said that different kinds of agriculture industry like ornamental² landscapes, horticulture, and turf, "... all of that occurs in every county, in every state of the union. So, it forms a large portion of American agriculture and therefore, an important part of the economy."

The most recent numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, show that the ornamental and landscape plant industry creates $13.8 billion in sales each year.

The garden was established by Congress in 1927. It plays a leading part in researching and developing plants like trees, shrubs³, flowers, and grasses.

Olsen called the arboretum a "science-based research facility and public garden." He said the place has bred or released around 650-plus plants. They include more than 450 azaleas for landscaping, but also trees like maples⁴, American elms, and hemlocks⁵.

The arboretum is home to one of the largest collections of preserved seeds in the world. The National Arboretum Herbarium houses around 700,000 example seeds. They include seeds from plants that the USDA considers as economically important.

Scientists collect many genetically⁷ different seeds within a kind of plant from both native and non-native plants. The reason for collecting that data is to protect plants from harmful situations like climate change, changed environments, or other new and possible risks.

Kevin Conrad is a lead plant scientist at the arboretum. He said there are examples in USDA history where a gene⁶ from a plant like wheat or grapes has been able to solve a disaster or a collapse⁸ of an important agricultural crop.

While the scientists do their work, the public is free to explore the arboretum grounds. About 600,000 people visit the gardens each year. That is a small amount compared to the 25 million who visit the monuments and places in the National Mall.

Although many people may not know it, the arboretum has had a hand in developing many of the plants that are part of American landscaping.

Conrad says the goal is to green the landscape. And he added, "It's to create a welcoming, secure, safe, beautiful, calming landscape for the public."

Words in This Story

garden – n. a public area with many plants and trees

nursery – n. a place where plants (such as trees or shrubs) are grown and sold

occur – v. to happen

portion – n. a part of a larger amount or area

landscape – v. to make changes to improve the appearance of (an area of land)

breed – v. to keep and take care of animals or plants in order to produce more animals or plants of a particular kind

preserve – v. to prevent from decaying

monument – n. a building or statue that honors a person or event

1 arboretum   

n.植物园

参考例句：

• We can go to the arboretum in the southern suburb.我们可以去南郊的植物园。
• The arboretum is full of exotic flowers and rare herbs.植物园里长满了各种奇花异草。

2 ornamental   

adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物

参考例句：

• The stream was dammed up to form ornamental lakes.溪流用水坝拦挡起来,形成了装饰性的湖泊。
• The ornamental ironwork lends a touch of elegance to the house.铁艺饰件为房子略添雅致。

3 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

4 maples   

槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木

参考例句：

• There are many maples in the park. 公园里有好多枫树。
• The wind of the autumn colour the maples carmine . 秋风给枫林涂抹胭红。

5 hemlocks   

由毒芹提取的毒药( hemlock的名词复数 )

参考例句：

6 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

7 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

8 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。