The Garden Club of America has announced that the Distinguished Service Medal, awarded for distinguished service in the field of horticulture, will be presented to the Center for Plant Conservation for its notable work in saving the nation’s endangered plants from extinction.

The Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) is a unique network of over sixty world-class botanical institutions that collaboratively work to save the imperiled plants of North America. Founded in 1984 in Boston at The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, CPC began working with eighteen botanical gardens and arboreta, with a mission to save the endangered plants of the United States.

The CPC works with scientists around the world to advance and share best practices in saving plants from extinction. Plants are protected in situ (protecting the natural habitat), and ex situ (in greenhouses, display gardens, seed banks, and laboratories). Of the 4,400 rare and endangered plant species in North America, one-half are in the CPC National Collection of Endangered Plants, with a goal of doubling the number in the next three years.

CPC safeguards rare plants by advancing science-based conservation practices, connecting and empowering plant conservationists, and inspiring all to protect biodiversity for future generations.