Composition
Currently (April 2020), the collection comprises 403 accessions of S. oleracea, 75 of S. turkestanica and 29 of S. tetrandra, all belonging to the primary gene pool of cultivated spinach. With respect to population type, the collection consists of 140 cultivars, 125 landraces, 101 samples of wild/weedy populations and 141 unspecified accessions.
The majority of accessions of cultivated spinach originate from Europe and Asia. The accessions of S. turkestanica mainly were collected during an expedition in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in 2008, and those of S. tetrandra during an expedition in Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2011. The majority of these expedition samples have been made available for distribution, while ten additional samples of S. tetrandra will follow in 2020. CGN is currently working on extension of the collection with a selection of modern varieties.