Although much heralded in the plant science community, Arabidopsis hasn't been quite as recognizable to the general public as more sought-after plants, such as home-grown tomatoes, flavorful grapes, or fresh corn on the cob. Somehow, Arabidopsis never achieved among the citizenry the majesty of a mighty sequoia or the allure of an orchid in bloom.

        However, on December 14, extensive media coverage of this roadside weed made it look as popular in newspapers throughout the country as roses on Valentine's Day. Stories on Arabidopsis ran by the dozen in a special issue of Nature that day, and newspapers across the country and overseas carried news of the momentous completion of the Arabidopsis genome sequence.

        A special White House reception (attended by many ASPP members) was held to celebrate the event. Neal Lane, assistant to the president for science and provided technology, was joined by National Science Foundation Director Rita Colwell, Deputy Secretary for Agriculture Richard Rominger, and Department of Energy Director of Basic Energy Sciences Patricia Dehmer in explaining the unheralded virtues of this diminutive but distinguished plant. As Dr. Lane noted, only a huge snowstorm in home state Missouri kept Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO) from being able to attend. Bond saw the importance of this unassuming plant back in 1997 and provided millions in federal support for accelerated research on it. The senator was represented at the reception by Cheh Kim of his committee staff.

        Indeed, Ralph Waldo Emerson was right when he said that a weed is simply "a plant whose values have not yet been discovered." ASPP President Dan Cosgrove noted that for some 800 million undernourished people throughout the world, the Arabidopsis genome sequence could speak the poetry of life.