Looking into CPC’s Future From 38 Years Ago

I was approached by CPC in 1985, while a graduate student at VA Tech, for a project to determine the reproductive biology of the single-site endemic, Iliamna corei (Peter’s Mountain Mallow). I remember meeting Don Falk, USFWS botanists, and North Carolina Botanical Garden staff who wanted ex situ seed collections for one of their first National Collection taxa. But little did I know that I would one day be NCBG staff making ex situ Iliamna corei collections and working to recover this endangered species. In this presentation I will reflect on 38 years with CPC and look into the hopeful future of safeguarding plants from extinction.