INTRODUCTION
Cut foliages (florists' "greens") are used in floral and other decorative arrangements.
These products are cultivated and also harvested from the wild. In 2000, the wholesale value
of the cultivated "greens" produced in the United States (U.S.) was estimated at $124 million
(25), with Florida accounting for 81 % of that total. For the predominant cultivated cut foliage
crop, leatherleaf fern (Rumohra adiantiformis [Forst.] Ching), over 76 million bunches were
produced in the U.S. in 2000 (25). These estimates are conservative since only a portion of
U.S. growers contribute data to the USDA. The wholesale value of wild-harvested cut foliages
produced in the U.S. is estimated to be approximately equal in value to cultivated foliages (13).
Neither of these values include holiday greens associated with Christmas and other mid-winter
holidays. In addition, these values are only for U.S. production and do not take into account
production in other countries such as Australia, Costa Rica, Italy and South Africa.