An heirloom plant, heirloom variety, heritage fruit, or heirloom vegetable is an old cultivar that is "still maintained by gardeners and farmers particularly in isolated or ethnic communities". These may have been commonly grown during earlier periods in human history, but are not used in modern large-scale agriculture. In some parts of the world, notably the European Union, it is illegal to sell seeds of cultivars that are not listed as approved for sale. The Henry Doubleday Research Association, now known as Garden Organic responded to this legislation by setting up the Heritage Seed Library to preserve seeds of as many of the older cultivars as possible. However, seed banks alone have not been able to provide sufficient insurance against catastrophic loss. Many heirloom vegetables have kept their traits through open pollination, while fruit varieties such as apples have been propagated over the centuries through grafts and cuttings. The trend of growing heirloom plants in gardens has been growing in popularity in North America and Europe in recent decades. Wikipedia [ - ]

An heirloom plant, heirloom variety, heritage fruit, or heirloom vegetable is an old cultivar... [ + ]