The Center for Plant Conservation maintains a collection of more than 1,400 of America’s most imperilled native plants through its network of world class botanical gardens. Our 43 participating institutions safeguard endangered plant material in “ex situ” botanical collections including seed banks, nurseries, and garden displays. An important conservation resource, the National Collection serves as an emergency backup in case a species becomes extinct or no longer reproduces in the wild. To communicate this important work, the Center and its network of conservation experts actively update web profiles for all National Collection species, which serve as a historical record of conservation actions taken to save these rare plants. Search the National Collection and view the plant profiles to learn more about these beautiful, imperiled rare plants and the gardens that conserve them.

Recent Conservation Updates!

Date Updated
4/12/2018	Psychotria hexandra ssp. oahuensis var. oahuensis	Contributor: Clarice Mendoza Institution: CPC National Office	Threats facing Psychotria hexandra ssp. oahuensis var. oahuensis Its ecological threats include habitat degradation by feral pigs, excessive fruit predation by rats, extreme weather events, and competition with invasive plant species.
4/12/2018	Stenogyne kaalae ssp. sherffii	Contributor: Institution: CPC National Office	Threats facing Stenogyne kaalae ssp. sherffii Feral ungulates have fragmented and destroyed this species' native habitat. Climate change is expected to further exacerbate that threat (USFWS 2016).
2/27/2018	Lomariopsis kunzeana	Contributor: J. Possley Institution: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden	Ex-situ collections of Lomariopsis kunzeana Marie Selby Botanic Gardens, CREW (Cincinnati Zoo), and Fairchild all have ex situ material from Florida germplasm; Selby Gardens has grown the largest, most healthy plants. Spores are cryogenically stored at CREW.
2/27/2018	Lomariopsis kunzeana	Contributor: J. Possley Institution: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden	Research about Lomariopsis kunzeana University of Florida PhD candidate Jerald Pinson is studying the habitat requirements and genetics of L. kunzeana in Florida.
2/27/2018	Lomariopsis kunzeana	Contributor: J. Possley Institution: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden	Population status of Lomariopsis kunzeana The majority of South Florida's L. kunzena germplasm exists as gametophytes or as very small sporophytes. The number of large sporophytes is certainly not increasing, per Fairchild monitoring data (2005 - present), though gametophyte population size may be stable.
2/27/2018	Lomariopsis kunzeana	Contributor: J. Possley Institution: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden	Threats facing Lomariopsis kunzeana Habitat loss, stochastic events due to very small population size (tree falls, storms). Non-native invasive pest plants. Climate change, especially as related to increasing frequency of hurricanes.
2/9/2018	Rhododendron vaseyi	Contributor: Kathryn Richardson Institution: The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University	Management of Rhododendron vaseyi The Arboretum manages the Rhododenron vaseyi collection by: practicing world class horticulture, acquiring and maintaining detailed plant records collecting herbarium specimens, harvesting and drying leaves for DNA extraction, capturing digital images. An important part of our mission is to provide access to the living collections (germplasm and related information) to researchers around the world. We both welcome scholars to visit and conduct research onsite at the Arnold Arboretum as well as collaborate globally collecting and shipping samples around the world. Each Living Collections department plays an important role in managing the collection: Horticulture Staff Responsibilities include planting and transplanting plants from the nursery to the grounds, turf care, monitoring for insects and diseases, applying pesticides and biological controls, pruning, removing dead or declining trees, chipping brush, watering, fertilizing, applying soil amendments, removing volunteer plants and invasives, rejuvenating planting beds, mulching, removing litter, plowing snow, and maintaining equipment. The Arboretum’s Landscape Management Plan divides the Arboretum into 71 zones based on location, environmental characteristics, and collections. Each horticulturist is responsible for a set of zones, allowing them to become experts on their particular zones and improve the quality of the care they provide. High value collections, such as Rhododendron vaseyi, are highlighted within each zone. Maintains the Rhododendron vaseyi collection as individual specimens. Curatorial Staff Perform field checks in accordance with the Plant Inventory and Operations Manual [pdf]. This includes databasing health and performance observations for the entire collection, identity verification, label need assessment, and mapping (GIS). Deposit herbarium specimens (vegetative, flower and fruit) for each accession in the living collections to the Herbarium of Cultivated Plants. Management and development of the collection is guided by the Cultivated Herbarium Collections Policy [pdf]. Provide access to the living collections for research and educational purposes. This includes access to plant material, sharing of germplasm, access to the landscape for frequent observations and experiments, and access to plant records (historic and present). Acquire germplasm for the permanent 8000 collections in accordance with the Living Collections Policy [link]. Dana Greenhouse Production Staff Produces the next generation of accessions destined for the permanent collections, as well as ensures the long-term survival of existing lineages through repropagation techniques, including cuttings and grafting. Shares propagules with sister institutions and distributes plant material for research purposes.
2/9/2018	Rhododendron vaseyi	Contributor: Kathryn Richardson Institution: The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University	Research about Rhododendron vaseyi In 2016, Alexander Susko led a project, Targets of Selection and Environmental Association in Rhododendron sect. Pentanthera, studying genetic variation that has been selected upon in naturally occurring Rhododendron sect. Pentanthera species and populations. This project includes two research objectives for ascertaining adaptive genetic variation in a group of woody species: Identify genetic targets of selection using transcriptome-wide polymorphism data across North American deciduous azalea species Associate transcriptome-wide polymorphism data that are unique to North American deciduous azalea species or groups of species with environmental factors. http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/2016-74-2-towards-broader-adaptability-of-north-american-deciduous-azaleas.pdf
2/9/2018	Rhododendron vaseyi	Contributor: Kathryn Richardson Institution: The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University	Research about Rhododendron vaseyi In 2015, Daniel Sullivan began his project, Establishing a collection of dried emerging leaf tissue as a resource for molecular studies of the living collections at the Arnold Arboretum, to establish a resource for future molecular studies. This project enhances the utility of its collections by creating a resource for current and future molecular studies. Appropriate accessions will be identified and flagged, and leaf tissue will be collected in the spring as the leaves are just emerging from the buds. Collected tissue will be dried in small packets over silica gel, five packets per accession, with appropriate information on each packet (Genus & species; accession number, date collected; tissue type; collector).
2/9/2018	Rhododendron vaseyi	Contributor: Kathryn Richardson Institution: The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University	Research about Rhododendron vaseyi In 2012, Dov Sax, Jesse Bellemare, and Liz Ryan led a project, Using native, naturalized and horticultural ranges to characterize the realized, fundamental and tolerance niches, to characterize differences among the realized, fundamental and tolerance niche by comparing the climate conditions that species encounter in their native, naturalized and horticultural ranges. This project has three main components. Build species distribution models (SDMs) using climate records from county-level occurrences for over 600 native species that are naturalized in New England and California. We will contrast these native-based SDMs against conditions experienced in their naturalized ranges to estimate the frequency and magnitude of differences between realized and fundamental niches. Build a database of US-native plants sold at nurseries in mid-Atlantic and New England states. This will allow us to examine tolerance for conditions beyond those experienced in species realized distributions. Measure frost damage, growth and reproduction of US-natives grown beyond their native distributions in botanical gardens.