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What in fact can botanical gardens and arboreta do to promote a better understanding of the endangered-species issue and actually to conserve genetic resources? By their very nature they are treasuries of botanical diversity, growing everything from algae to redwoods and displaying a wide array of native and exotic species and cultivars. It is not uncommon for them to maintain several thousand species in a score of natural or simulated habitats. Regardless of the quality and extent of documentation, the mere fact that such an aggregation of genotypes is consistently maintained gives it conservation value and argues for a more direct role in botanical conservation. Several gardens also own, or have custody of, significant tracts of natural vegetation that promote public understanding, serve as refuges for the genetic resources found in them, and make these resources available for research.

Historically, botanical gardens have often been very active in distributing plant materials. Most have an Index Seminum and have participated in international exchanges on a considerable scale.

Associated with the living collections of many botanical gardens are libraries devoted to botany and horticulture. Several institutions also maintain plant-specimen museums, or herbariums, which are collections of well documented specimens representing a very diverse flora. Thus gardens and arboreta and their associated facilities are essential instruments in research in plant systematics, evolution, geography, and ecology. Such research is fundamental not only for understanding the forces that accelerate impoverishment of genetic