Quercus dumosa, or the coastal sage scrub oak, faces numerous threats to its native range, such as fires, urban development, and climate change. Unfortunately, Q. dumosa’s acorns cannot survive the dry conditions required for seed banking, and living collections require considerable space. One alternative for ex situ conservation is tissue culture, in which microplants from many individuals […]
in vitro
Micropropagation; plant tissues grown on nutritional medium in a sterile humid glass or plastic container.
Asimina manasota in vitro
Asimina manasota plants growing in vitro at the Lindner Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden (CREW). […]
Successful In Vitro Initiation: Taxus floridana
showing new axillary buds in a test tube on June 12, 46 days after inoculation. […]
Quercus hinckleyi in vitro
Quercus hinckleyi in vitro. Photo by Max Winkeljohn. […]
Cryopreserving Endangered Plants and Seeds
Although many rare plants have seeds that can be stored by conventional methods, not all species have seeds that can live after drying or freezing. Sometimes called “Exceptional plants, ” these species have a wide range of variation. Some produce few or no seeds, thus they cannot be seed banked, others have seeds or spores […]
In Vitro Seed Germination and Seedling Development of Spiranthes Casei for Ex Situ Conservation
Peter Zale and Matt Taylor, Longwood Gardens Several species of Spiranthes native to the Eastern U.S. are considered rare, threatened or endangered by federal and state agencies. Using the Pennsylvania endangered Spiranthes casei as a model species, experiments were designed to determine optimal conditions for in vitro seed germination and seedling development. Seeds were collected […]