- Also called:
- heirloom variety or heritage plant
Heirloom plant
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What is a heirloom plant?
An heirloom plant is a cultivar that has been cultivated over many years and breeds "true to type" from seeds, meaning each generation has the same traits. While there's no firm consensus, some say an heirloom must be cultivated for at least 50 years, while others say it needs to be 100 years. Still others believe it to be any cultivar grown before the wide introduction of hybrid crops in 1951.
Essential to the "heirloom" label is that a family, community, or group grew and maintained the cultivar, passing seeds down through generations. These plants are open-pollinated, so wind, birds, insects, or humans can pollinate them with pollen from different individuals of the same variety. The resulting generation maintains roughly the same characteristics as the parent plants.
Interest in cultivating heirloom plants has grown since the late 1900s due to their cultural and genetic importance.
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How are heirloom plants different from regular plants?
Heirloom plants are cultivars with a history of cultivation over many years, breeding "true to type" from seeds, ensuring each generation shares the same traits. While definitions vary, some say they've been around for at least 50 years, others 100, and some consider any cultivar before the introduction of hybrid crops around 1951 as heirloom.
Before industrial agriculture, heirloom plants were dominant, with some grown for hundreds or even thousands of years. They're open-pollinated, so wind, birds, insects, or humans pollinate them, maintaining consistent characteristics. Over time, humans chose seeds from the best plants, creating unique cultivars suited to specific regions. While modern hybrids are bred for maximum yield and disease resistance, heirlooms are often favored for superior flavor and aesthetic appeal and can hold valuable genetic resources.
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Why do people grow heirloom plants?
People cultivate heirloom plants for a number of reasons, including their superior flavors and aesthetic appeal. These plants are often exquisitely adapted to specific regions, holding valuable genetic resources like drought or heat tolerance that can be useful when breeding hardier varieties.
Heirloom plants connect people to a cultural heritage and the past. They have been passed down through generations and have survived events such as genocide and colonization. Saving the seeds of heirloom plants is important because many are at risk of being lost forever.
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How are heirloom plants preserved over time?
Heirloom plants are preserved through seed-saving efforts, ensuring these cultivars aren't lost. These plants, open-pollinated to breed true, maintain the same traits across generations, with seeds passed down within communities.
Botanical gardens and seed banks play a crucial role in preserving heirloom plants by maintaining living collections and storing seeds to protect against extinction and for use in restoration projects. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault stores over one million heirloom cultivars to safeguard genetic diversity. These efforts, from individual hobbyists to global initiatives, are essential in conserving the cultural and genetic importance of heirloom plants.
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What are some common types of heirloom plants?
Heirloom plants are plant cultivars that have been cultivated over many years and produce plants with the same combination of traits from seed. While there is no universal agreement on the exact criteria, common definitions include plants cultivated for at least 50 years, those grown for 100 years, or any cultivar developed before the introduction of hybrid crops in 1951.
Essential to the heirloom label is that a family, community, or group maintained the cultivar, passing seeds down through generations. Though often applied to fruits and vegetables, many ornamental garden flowers are also considered heirloom plants. Popular examples include tomatoes, beans, corn, lettuce, melons, okra, collard greens, sunflowers, zinnias, and foxgloves.
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How do heirloom plants help protect biodiversity?
Heirloom plants play a role in protecting biodiversity because they are often suited to a region’s particular climate, and they hold valuable genetic resources that can be useful in breeding hardier varieties. Sustainable agriculture emphasizes planting diverse crops, including heirloom plants, rather than relying on a single crop in industrial monoculture.
Heirloom plants have been grown for a number of years and each generation has the same combination of traits. They are open-pollinated, so each generation breeds true, with roughly the same characteristics as the parent plants. Since the late 1900s, there has been an increase in interest in cultivating heirloom plants because of their cultural and genetic importance.
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Heirloom plant, any plant cultivar that has been grown for a certain number of years and that breeds “true to type” from seeds, with each generation of the plant having the same combination of traits. There is no agreement on the precise criteria for heirloom plants. According to some definitions, an heirloom plant is one that has been cultivated for at least 50 years, while others maintain that it is 100 years. Still others assert that an heirloom plant is any cultivar developed before the end of World War II, or, specifically, before 1951, when hybrid crop plants were widely introduced. In general, an essential criterion of the “heirloom” label is that the cultivar was grown and maintained by a family, community, or other group, with the seeds passed down from generation to generation. While the term is often used for fruits and vegetables, many ornamental garden flowers are also considered heirloom plants. Popular heirloom plants include tomatoes, beans, corn (maize), lettuce, melons, okra, collard greens, sunflowers, zinnias, and foxgloves.
Prior to the industrialization of agriculture, heirloom plants were the dominant crops worldwide, with some heirloom cultivars having been grown for hundreds and even thousands of years. Heirloom plants are open-pollinated, which means that the wind, birds, humans, or bees or other insects pollinate the plants with pollen from different individuals of the same variety. The resulting generation thus breeds true, with roughly the same characteristics as the parent plants. Throughout history humans have selected and saved seeds from the healthiest and most vigorous plants and thereby gradually developed a myriad of unique heirloom cultivars that are accustomed to the soil, climate, and pests of a given region. See also plant breeding.
In contrast, the hybrid cultivars used in industrial agriculture are bred for maximum yield, producing vegetables that have a uniform appearance, are resistant to diseases and pests, and hold up well during shipping. They are created by crossbreeding two different plant varieties of the same species, and their seeds do not produce plants with the same characteristics as the hybrid parent plants (i.e., they do not breed true to type). Because of this, gardeners and farmers must purchase seeds every year. Genetically modified crops are also used in modern agriculture, and, regardless of whether they breed true or have been in cultivation for decades, they cannot be considered heirloom crops.
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Although heirloom vegetables generally are not as disease-resistant or productive as many modern hybrids, many have been selected for their superior flavors, and their colors and shapes are aesthetically pleasing. In addition, many heirlooms are also exquisitely adapted to the region in which they were developed and hold valuable genetic resources, such as drought- or heat-tolerance, that can be useful in the breeding of hardier varieties. Specific heirloom plants often have a story—a relationship with the past—that serves as a connection to a cultural heritage. Many Indigenous peoples, for example, have prized or even sacred heirloom crops that have been passed down for generations, sometimes surviving genocide, colonization, or other existential threats.
Given the cultural and genetic importance of heirloom plants, interest in cultivating them has increased since the late 1900s. Without seed-saving efforts, many heirloom crops are at risk of being lost forever, and countless cultivars have undoubtedly already disappeared. Individual hobbyists and nonprofits, as well as traditional farmers around the globe, actively work to keep these resources in production. Indeed, heirloom seeds are so important to the global food supply that since 2008, the seeds of more than one million heirloom cultivars have been stored in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the remote Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. A comprehensive storage facility, the vault serves to protect the genetic diversity of humanity’s food crops from the threat of a global catastrophe, such as nuclear war, and to safeguard genetic resources that could be used to breed new varieties that are adapted to a changing climate or a novel plant disease.