Office of Seed and Plant Introduction

The Office of Seed and Plant Introduction was a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture which introduced over 200,000 species and varieties of non-native plants to the United States. It was established in 1898, under the direction of David Fairchild. The department employed agricultural explorers to seek out economically useful plant species to import to the United States. One of the agency's explorers, Frank Nicholas Meyer, introduced the variety of lemon which was later named after him.