美国 冬青属协会 HSA – 致力于冬青属推广研究与品种国际登记的国际性组织

美国冬青属协会 (The Holly Society of America, Inc., 简称 HSA) 是 1947 年成立、专门致力于冬青属 (genus Ilex) 推广、研究与品种国际登记的国际性非营利组织，会员与活动范围覆盖美国、加拿大、欧洲与亚洲。协会自 1958 年起经国际栽培植物命名委员会 (International Commission for Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants, ICNCP) 与国际生物科学联合会 (International Union of Biological Sciences, IUBS) 共同授权，担任冬青属栽培品种的官方国际登录机构 (International Cultivar Registration Authority)，负责世界范围内冬青属栽培新品种的统一登记与名称发布，是蔷薇类以外少有的由单一专门协会承担的栽培植物国际登录权威。协会同时维护经认证的 Holly Arboretum (冬青种质园) 与 Experimental Test Center (区域试验中心) 网络，目前已有二十处机构获得认证，包含法国、比利时、韩国等地的国际会员园。

协会沿革与组织架构

美国冬青属协会成立于第二次世界大战结束后的 1947 年，最初由一批专业园艺学者、苗圃从业者与植物学家在美国东部发起的冬青属学术交流圈演化而来，目标在于通过专业刊物、年度集会与种植资源交换整合公众对冬青属的兴趣，并将散落于地方文献与私人苗圃中的冬青品种整理为可检索的公开档案。七十余年来，协会的工作范围由最初的北美逐步扩展到欧洲与亚洲，会员组成覆盖专业园艺师、苗圃从业者、植物研究学者、家庭园艺爱好者、植物园专业工作者与单纯的冬青属爱好者；最早的两位代表性学者被后世称作”Mr. Holly”，分别是霍尔·莱恩·埃尔莫 (Harold Lane Elmore)，他在 1983 年向田纳西大学树木园 (University of Tennessee Arboretum) 提出建立 Holly Garden 计划并于次年首次栽种 25 株冬青的实验性收藏；以及尤因·艾森拜斯 (Gene Eisenbeiss)，其工作与协会的栽培品种登录、推广写作密不可分，协会在 2002 年决定设立 Holly of the Year (年度冬青) 时，就以其名命名这一延续至今的评选传统以示追念。协会目前的运营由 Sue Hunter (President 兼 Felton, Pennsylvania 地区 Heartwood Nursery 经营者) 与 Carole Cossaboon (Executive Secretary) 主导，会员事务、研究基金与对外联络分工运转，协会对会刊出版的承诺与对国际登录权威身份的维护是这一非营利机构长期稳定运行的两大支点。

学术研究、国际登录与栽培品种出版

美国冬青属协会自 1958 年起担任冬青属栽培品种的国际登录权威 (International Cultivar Registration Authority for cultivated Ilex)，与世界各国的冬青学者、苗圃与种质园保持长期的种源交换与命名协调。协会每年对申请登录的新栽培品种进行审查并发布正式登记，新登录品种的形态描述、植株尺寸、叶片性状 (叶形、刺列、叶基)、花果特征、果实颜色 (Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart 参考)、硬度区 (USDA Hardiness Zones) 与发现地、栽培历史均会刊载于协会的数字会刊 Holly Society Journal 中；同一种期刊还会刊登协会出资资助的多项冬青属相关研究成果摘要，覆盖生理学、栽培学、抗逆性评估与种质系统发育等议题。协会与位于华盛顿特区的美国国家树木园 (US National Arboretum, Washington, D.C.) 长期合作，新登录冬青的模式标本 (voucher specimens) 保存在该树木园的标本馆中。2003 年第一届 Holly of the Year 评选出 ‘Satyr Hill’ American Holly，之后从理事会的投票中陆续评选出 ‘Sky Pencil’ Japanese Holly (2004)、’Sunny Foster’ Attenuata Holly (2006)、’Maryland Beauty’ Winterberry Holly (2008)、’Ilex Scepter’ (2009)、’Red Sprite’ Winterberry (2010)、’Nellie R. Stevens’ (2011)、’Proud Mary’ English Holly (2012)、Ilex pedunculosa (2013)、’Golden Girl’ Meserve Holly (2014)、’Maryland Dwarf’ American Holly (2016)、Ilex glabra Inkberry (2017)、opaca f. xanthocarpa 黄果美国冬青 (2018)、’Winter Red’ Winterberry (2021)、’Longwood Gold’ Attenuata Holly (2022)、’Longwood Gardens’ American Holly (2024) 以及最新一期的 ‘Sundown’ American Holly (2025+)；这一列表本身就是公众选购冬青栽培品种最常被引用的入门参考。

会员体系、地方分会与年度集会

美国冬青属协会的会员体系向所有对冬青属有兴趣的公众开放，无论是专业园艺研究者、苗圃从业者、植物园工作者，还是初次接触冬青的家庭园丁，都可以加入并使用协会的全套学术资源。会员的权利包括：每年获得两期数字版 Holly Society Journal (内容涵盖研究简报、冬青栽培与繁殖、园艺景观应用与新品种介绍)，两期数字版 Berry Bulletin (聚焦浆果类冬青与北美冬青的园艺实务)，查阅经协会认证的 Holly Arboretum 与 Test Center 名单 (含美、加、法、比、韩等地共二十处机构)，并通过 Annual Listing 在会刊上登记个人信息或苗圃经营。协会在美国东部和中西部设有区域分会 (Regional Chapters)，定期举办理事与会员的小型聚会、邀请当地学者讲演、组织集体参观地方 arboreta、苗圃与私人冬青种质收藏，并交换冬青的扦插繁殖枝条。协会每年秋天在不同地区轮流举办面向全体会员的 Annual Meeting (年度大会) — 近年承办地包括宾州 Gettysburg 等历史与园艺重镇 — 大会期间设有 Sprig Contest (冬青小枝评展) 与 Plant Auction (冬青拍卖会)，拍卖所得会用于协会运营与 Research Fund (研究基金)；同场还有 Cutting Exchange (枝条交换)，会员可以交换由全球会员捐赠的稀有冬青物种与品种繁殖枝条，多数为市场上难以找到的物种。

出版体系、研究资助与开放资源

美国冬青属协会的出版体系以数字刊物为主、配合年度学术活动与公开数据库。Holly Society Journal (每年两期数字版) 是协会的核心学术与园艺实务载体，刊登内容从冬青属研究简报到品种评介、从园艺景观应用到繁殖技术均有涵盖，公开档案经会员授权后向非会员读者开放访问。Berry Bulletin (每年两期) 是协会面向会员内部的实务通讯，聚焦北美冬青、浆果类冬青 (Winterberry, Ilex verticillata) 与其近缘观赏植物。协会维护一个 Limited Holly Identification Service (冬青鉴定服务)，由协会的执行秘书 (Executive Secretary) 牵头，组织冬青属专家团队对会员提交的样本照片 (需含日期、地点、特写与全株) 进行鉴定，标准收费为每次识别 10 美元，识别费用注入协会运营基金。协会同时通过 Research Fund 资助由会员及其他研究机构提交的冬青属相关研究项目，经费来自会员捐赠、企业配捐以及”Save the Holly Fund”等专项基金，所有捐款可在美国税法允许范围内享受税收抵扣。协会的网址长期以 hollysocam.org 作为对外联系的稳定入口 (现已经转由新的 hollysociety.org 网站托管)，老域名保留作为反向上链与搜索引擎的访问通道。

The Holly Society of America, Inc. (HSA) is a non-profit learned society founded in 1947, dedicated to stimulating interest in, promoting research on, and collecting and disseminating information about the genus Ilex. Since 1958 the Society has served as the international registration authority for cultivated Ilex under joint appointment by the International Commission for the Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants and the International Union of Biological Sciences, and it maintains a network of certified Holly Arboretums and Experimental Test Centers in the United States, Canada, France, Belgium and Korea. Members include professional horticulturists, nursery professionals, plant researchers, home gardeners and arboretum staff; publications include the twice-yearly digital Holly Society Journal and Berry Bulletin, and the long-running Holly of the Year program which has named sixteen notable Ilex selections since 2003.

Founding History and Organizational Structure

The Holly Society of America was established in 1947 in the eastern United States by a small circle of professional horticulturists, nursery operators and botanists who sought to consolidate public interest in the genus Ilex through specialist publications, regional meetings and a shared network of plant material. Over more than seven decades, the Society has grown from a North American focus into an international body whose membership extends across the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia, while keeping its operational center in southern New Jersey. Two early figures were remembered as “Mr. Holly” by the membership: Harold Lane Elmore, who in 1983 proposed the Holly Garden collection at the University of Tennessee Arboretum in Oak Ridge and oversaw the planting of the first twenty-five hollies in 1985; and Gene Eisenbeiss, whose work on holly cultivar registration and popular writing led the trustees to name the long-running Holly of the Year recognition in his honor. Day-to-day operations today are led by President Sue Hunter of Heartwood Nursery in Felton, Pennsylvania, and Executive Secretary Carole Cossaboon, with member services, research funding and external liaison distributed across the trustee body.

Research, International Registration and Cultivar Publications

The Society has acted as the International Cultivar Registration Authority for cultivated Ilex since 1958, coordinating cultivar names with holly scholars, nurseries and germplasm collections around the world. Each newly registered cultivar receives an official entry covering growth habit, leaf morphology, spine pattern, fruit color (referenced to the Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart), hardiness zone, discovery locale and cultivation history, and these descriptions are published in the Holly Society Journal. The Society funds Ilex-related research through its Research Fund and works closely with the US National Arboretum, where voucher specimens of newly registered cultivars are deposited. The Holly of the Year program, launched in 2003 to honor Gene Eisenbeiss’s legacy, has named sixteen distinct selections reflecting different Ilex horticultural groups: the American holly ‘Satyr Hill’ (2003), the Japanese holly ‘Sky Pencil’ (2004), the Attenuata holly ‘Sunny Foster’ (2006), the Winterberry ‘Maryland Beauty’ (2008), ‘Ilex Scepter’ (2009), ‘Red Sprite’ Winterberry (2010), ‘Nellie R. Stevens’ (2011), English holly ‘Proud Mary’ (2012), Ilex pedunculosa (2013), the Meserve holly ‘Golden Girl’ (2014), American holly ‘Maryland Dwarf’ (2016), Ilex glabra Inkberry (2017), yellow-fruited American holly (2018), ‘Winter Red’ (2021), ‘Longwood Gold’ (2022), ‘Longwood Gardens’ American holly (2024) and the orange-fruited American holly ‘Sundown’ (2025+).

Membership, Regional Chapters and Annual Meeting

Membership in the Holly Society of America is open to anyone with an interest in the genus Ilex, whether as a professional horticulturist, nursery operator, arboretum staff member or home gardener, and members receive the twice-yearly digital Holly Society Journal, the twice-yearly digital Berry Bulletin, access to the certified Holly Arboretum and Test Center directory, and an opportunity to be listed in the annual membership roster. Regional chapters in the eastern and midwestern United States organize local meetings, talks, garden and nursery visits, and informal cutting exchanges among members. The Society’s Annual Meeting is held each fall in a different region; recent host cities have included Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where the meeting combines a Sprig Contest, a Holly Auction whose proceeds support the Society and the Research Fund, and a Cutting Exchange that circulates unusual Ilex species and cultivars donated by members from around the world.

Publications, Research Funding and Open Resources

The Society’s publishing program centers on the digital Holly Society Journal and Berry Bulletin, both of which combine scientific reporting, cultivation notes and landscape advice; back issues are made openly accessible to non-members subject to member authorization, and the Society’s research funding arm directs external grants and member donations toward Ilex-related horticultural and botanical work. Tax-deductible donations are accepted through several channels, including the “Save the Holly Fund” (supporting preservation of registered hollies of historic value), the website and digital publications fund, and unrestricted gifts. The Society runs a Holly Identification Service coordinated by the Executive Secretary: members submit close-up and overall photographs with location and date, and expert volunteer reviewers return a determination for a modest per-identification fee that returns to the Society’s operating fund. The Society’s long-standing web presence at hollysocam.org has been succeeded by the new hollysociety.org platform built on the Wild Apricot membership and publishing infrastructure; the older domain continues to serve as a stable entry point for returning members and external referrers.

相关文章：

美国 牡丹协会 American Peony Society – 行业自律与服务组织 美国 苦苣苔科协会 – 专注苦苣苔品种保护的75年 美国 玉簪协会 American Hosta Society – 国际品种登记管理局肩负玉簪属新品种的国际登记与命名审查职责 美国 木兰协会 – 专注木兰品种保护与教育的国际非营利组织 美国 鸢尾协会 American Iris Society – 鸢尾品种国际注册机构 美国 国际天南星科协会 – 1977 年迈阿密创立的国际性学术组织 美国 杜鹃协会 (ARS) – 国际杜鹃花知识传播与科研组织 美国萱草协会 – 1946年成立现有来自 20 多个国家的 5,000 多名会员