PPAF means “Plant Patent Applied For” whereas PP#### indicates that a Plant Patent has been granted and the numbers are the actual patent number. The ability of plant breeders to protect their investment by controlling the propagation of their plants and obtaining a royalty from those that do propagate and sell their plants is an integral part of the modern system of plant breeding and marketing. It takes a lot of money to develop new and interesting plant selections and if breeders can recoup that cost, a few pennies at a time, when nurseries grow and sell their plants then it is possible for that breeders to continue their work and bring more new cultivars to the market. Simply, the right to propagate a patented plant is controlled by the patent holder. Generally words to the effect of “unauthorized propagation is prohibited” will also be on the label. Does this mean that a patented plant is ‘better’ than one that is not? Not necessarily. But the process of patenting is not inexpensive and breeders do not generally invest the money unless they believe that their plant is an improvement over what is available in the current marketplace.