National Collection Spotlight: Cedros Island Oak

Cedros Island Oak (Quercus cedrosensis) is an imperiled oak species native primarily to Cedros Island in Baja California, Mexico, with one population occurring in San Diego, CA, at Otay Mountain. Major threats to this species include drought, wildfire, and border activitis. Oaks are exceptional species, meaning they cannot be stored using traditional seed banking methods, and are often conserved in living collections or other forms of long-term storage (such as cryopreservation). In 2017, only one individual of Quercus cedrosensis was known to be held ex situ in conservation collection.

Now, Quercus cedrosensis is secured in the CPC National Collection at San Diego Botanic Garden (SDBG), San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, California Botanic Garden, and The Huntington. Genetic material from this species at the Otay Mountain population has been collected in the form of cuttings and a few acorns, grown as a living conservation genebank by San Diego Botanic Garden with seedlings held in their nursery and distributed to The Huntington. Seeds from this species are hard to come by, with many wild individuals producing little to no acorns, making cuttings a helpful tool for conservation collections.

Learn more about conservation actions taken for Cedros Island Oak on its National Collection Plant Profile and help support critical conservation work for this species with a Plant Sponsorship. This species is part of CPC’s 40th Anniversary Campaign! In celebration of our 40 years of saving plants from extinction, we are raising funds to sponsor 40 National Collection species, including Cedros Island Oak. For every $5K raised per plant species, our Board of Trustees will provide $5K in matching funds to bring the species to the full sponsorship level of $10K–growing the impact of your gift in support of rare and endangered plants. Learn more about our 40th Anniversary Campaign.