Skip to content
Center for Plant Conservation
  • Login
  • Register
  • Get Newsletters
  • Donate
  • Discover Our Work
    • 2025 National Meeting
      • Sponsor the National Meeting
      • Past National Meetings
      • 2025 Photo Contest
    • CPC Rare Plant Academy
      • Video Library
      • Photo Gallery
      • Applied Plant Conservation Course
      • Community Forum
    • National Collection
    • CPC Best Practices
      • Read Best Practices Online
      • Download Best Practices PDF
      • Purchase Best Practices Book
    • Pollinator Database
    • California Plant Rescue
    • Florida Plant Rescue
    • Rare Plant Finder
    • Seed Longevity Study
    • Rare Plant Reintroduction
      • Reintroduction Registry
      • CPC Reintroduction Database
  • Rare Plant Academy
    • Video Library
    • Photo Gallery
    • Applied Plant Conservation Course
    • Community Forum
  • Get Involved
    • Donate
    • 40th Anniversary
      • 40th Anniversary Campaign
      • 40th Anniversary Summit Event
    • Sponsor a Plant
    • Advocacy
    • Become a Partner
    • Get Newsletters
    • Register
    • Member Payments
    • Sponsor the National Meeting
  • Meet Our Community
    • CPC Newsletter
    • Conservation Partners
      • Institutional Partners
      • Individual Partners
    • CPC Star Awards
    • Fellowships
    • Community Forum
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Sponsor a Rare Plant
    • Shop CPC Merch
  • About
    • Team and Mission
    • Reports & Financials
    • Board of Trustees
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Press Room
    • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Get Newsletters
  • Login
  • Register
Center for Plant Conservation

A Big Win for Small Seeds!

Rare plant seeds are a precious resource that provide the basis for recovery of these plants in nature. Yet rare plant seed collections often contain too few seeds to be utilized for reintroductions without seed augmentation. “Seed bulking” is the process of growing plants from seed to reproduction in a botanic garden setting to increase seed available for restoration. While necessary, it can impose unnatural filters on the genetics of rare plant populations — and we know little about how growing a plant outside its native range affects plant health or genetic filtering.

Background photo: Seeds of the Soft-leaved indian paintbrush (Castilleja mollis). Photo credit: Christine Pang, courtesy of Santa Barbara Botanical Garden.
High resolution images of Acanthomintha ilicifolia seeds taken by summer fellow Kaity Coleman at the San Diego Zoo Native Plant Seed Bank. Photo courtesy of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

 

The Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) is pleased to announce that we have been awarded a three-year $589,833 National Leadership Grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services to better understand the critical practice of seed bulking. The grant was submitted in collaboration with seven members of the California Plant Rescue network, including co-Principal Investigators Christa Horn (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance) and Carrie Kiel and Naomi Fraga (California Botanic Garden). We will leverage the propagation expertise and infrastructure of partners throughout the California Plant Rescue network to seed bulk 15 rare annual California native plant species, including in-depth tracking of propagation techniques and maternal line survival over two growing seasons in two locations (inside and outside of their home range).

The project will also evaluate how seed bulking influences the genetics of two rare California annuals in the CPC National Collection: Saltmarsh Bird’s beak (Chloropyron maritimum ssp. maritimum) and San Diego thornmint (Acanthomintha ilicifolia). These insights, together with insights from our broader network, will be used to create CPC Best Practices Guidelines for Seed Bulking and improve the quality of curation for rare plants more broadly.

Discover Our Work

  • CPC Rare Plant Academy
  • National Collection
  • Best Practices Guide
  • Pollinator Database
  • California Plant Rescue
  • Florida Plant Rescue
  • Rare Plant Finder
  • CPC National Meeting

Get Involved

  • Donate
  • 40th Anniversary
  • Advocacy
  • Become a Partner
  • Get Newsletters
  • Register
  • Member Payment
  • Underwrite

Meet Our Community

  • CPC Newsletter
  • Institutional Partners
  • Individual Partners
  • CPC Star Awards
  • Fellowships

About

  • Team and Mission
  • Financials
  • Board of Trustees
  • Fellowships
  • Press Room
  • Contact Us

Social Media


The Center For Plant Conservation (CPC) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization (EIN# 22-2527116) dedicated to saving rare plant species from extinction. CPC's National Collection represents more than 2,000 of the world's rarest plants, maintained collectively by its valued network of Participating Institutions.

Center for Plant Conservation National Headquarters 15600 San Pasqual Valley Rd. Escondido, CA 92027-7000

Email: info@saveplants.org; Phone: (760) 796-5686

The CPC National Office is headquartered at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondidio, California, in partnership with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, a CPC Participating Institution.

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

CPC has achieved the 2019 Gold Seal of Transparency on GuideStar.

Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions

Copyright 2020 Center for Plant Conservation | All Rights Reserved

FaceBook Twitter Instagram