Kew Foundation America Funds Seed Collections of Our Most Threatened Rare Plant Populations

In the areas of North America that were greatly impacted by major hurricanes in 2017, with the help of Kew Foundation America, CPC conservation officers valiantly made seed collections that will help save rare plants. In the southeast, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden researchers collected seeds of the globally rare and federally listed Linum arenicola and Linum carteri var. carteri. Because the plants are small, flower sporadically, produce few seeds, and there are few plants in the wild populations, repeated trips were required to gather adequate numbers of seed. In Texas, Mercer Arboretum botanist Anita Tiller collected Rayjacksonia aurea from a location highly threatened by development and Chloris texensis, which has been impacted by heavy grazing this year.