Savannas Mint seed collection

Savannas Mint (Dicerandra immaculata var. savannarum) is a woody shrub that has only ever been known from one location in south St. Lucie County, Florida. The sole natural population was extirpated in favor of a private residence. Prior to its loss, however, Bok Tower Gardens collected seeds and cuttings from the population, and used hundreds of newly propagated clones and seedlings to introduce a new population onto protected, managed park lands. This new population became self-sustaining and more than doubled in size. However, in recent years, pine and oak overgrowth has begun to reduce available habitat and threaten the population. In advance of a planned prescribed burn, which should greatly help improve the habitat, seeds were collected for ex situ germplasm preservation. Dried seed pods from 50 maternal parent plants were collected in January and brought back to Bok Tower Gardens for cleaning, counting, sorting, drying to 25% RH. Roughly half of the seeds were sent to NLGRP for cryogenic storage.