The Missouri Botanical Garden provides an interesting case study for the introduction of Mendel's ideas in the first decades of the Twentieth Century. The Garden, then and now strives to three not always perfectly complementary goals: research, display, and education. Thus, in this period, it was the site of work in plant physiology, plant pathology, and taxonomy as well as plant breeding. The products of the horticultural research helped make the grounds a national attraction. And the Garden ran both the Henry Shaw School of Botany at Washington University and a School for Gardening that trained horticulturists and landscape architects. Interest in Mendel at the MBG ultimately culminated in Edgar Anderson becoming "Geneticist to the Garden" in 1922. This paper traces both the background to Anderson's appointment and his work in the 1920s.

Key words: Edgar Anderson, genetics, Mendelism, Missouri Botanical Garden