Abstract: Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc. is a famous ornamental tree species grown in China. The objective of this study is to develop superior cultivars, and to conserve and utilize superior genetic resources effectively, given limited time and financial capacity. Using constant and genetic diversity-dependent strategies, 52 cultivars were selected as the core collection, which were screened from 178 cultivars or related species based on 295 AFLPs locus and the UPGMA cluster analysis of Nei's genetic distance. Genetic diversity of the pooled population was also tested. Sampling ratio was 29.21%. Eighteen styles of 3 species were conserved in a core germplasm, and the retaining ratios of Shannon's information index Lewontin (1972), Nei's (1973) gene diversity and Simpson index were 99.90%, 99.47% and 99.99% respectively. The differences between the core collection and whole accessions were not significant. The core collection assembled here very likely represents the great majority of the genotypes and genetic diversity in the Prunus mume and provides a resource for further development of this ornamental plant。