In volume 8 of this newsletter, Reitsma and Widrlechner {1998) reported on the status of Daucus and Apiaceae germplasm at the USDA-ARS North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station {NCRPIS), in Ames, Iowa. The NCRPIS is one of the primary active sites in the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System {NPGS), cons¢rving diverse collections of crop plants and their wild and weedy relatives and making them available for research and educational purposes at no cost to the user. Information about all NPGS collections can be obtained through the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) database, which can be searched via the Internet at http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs.

In 1999, Philipp Simon (USDA-ARS, Madison, WI), along with colleagues in Poland, Greece, Syria, and Turkey, organized and conducted an exploration through financial support provided by the USDA-ARS Plant Exchange Office {Williams, 2005). That exploration was designed to collect landrace and wild germplasm of Daucus and other Apiaceae from the eastern Mediterranean, a region with considerable umbel diversity. The incorporation of collections made by Simon and his colleagues during the summer of 1999 into the NPGS has made much of the information presented by Reitsma and Widrlechner {1998) obsolete. In this report, we wish to inform umbel researchers about our success in confirming the identity of these new collections, regenerating them, and making them available for research and education.