The management of germplasm collections involves germplasm acquisition, regeneration, conservation, characterization, evaluation, distribution and database management. The Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center (OPGC) is a cooperative project between the USDA's National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) and The Ohio State University; it was inaugurated in July 2001 as a repository of herbaceous ornamental plant germplasm in the form of seeds and clonal propagules. The OPGC currently houses 2,983 accessions of herbaceous ornamentals, representing some 200 genera. Many other food and medicinal plant genera with ornamental value, such as Allium, Helianthus and Echinacea, are maintained at other NPGS sites. The USDA National Arboretum is the lead repository for maintaining woody ornamental plant germplasm. As in herbaceous genera, several other NPGS repositories are responsible for woody germplasm conservation. The OPGC is working with the floriculture industry, federal and state governments, botanic gardens and arboreta, horticultural societies and individuals in the US and other countries in germplasm acquisition, maintenance and distribution in accordance with the Convention on Biological Diversity and intellectual property rights. Clients include researchers interested in assessing genetic diversity and genetic diversity erosion, germplasm storage and regeneration techniques, pharmaceutical and other uses, and in developing improved ornamentals. Research includes methods for genebanking, preserving genetic diversity often lost during varietal selection, and characterization and evaluation of accessions for potentially important traits such as insect and disease resistance. Germplasm data, including descriptors, taxonomy, and availability, are made available through the GRIN (http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/), and OPGC website (http://opgc.osu.edu).