Ornamental Horticulture and Biofuels Research
The Ornamental Horticultural Program at the Tropical Research and Education Center (TREC), in Homestead, FL, provides research and teaching activities related to ornamental plant production. The large diversity in tropical and subtropical ornamentals requires advanced production techniques, including plant tissue culture and micropropagation, temporary immersion bioreactors, long-term cryopreservation, molecular marker technologies, and space biology (microgravity). Our projects on ornamental plant production and conservation focus mainly on orchids. Projects involving bioreactors included sugarcane, banana, jatropha, and orchids. Additional ornamentals of interest include palms, flowering trees, and cycads, among others.