Testing Seed Quality and Viability of CPC Species Stored in the Missouri Botanical Garden Seed Bank

As a founding member of the Center for Plant Conservation, Missouri Botanical Garden has been banking seeds of rare plant species since 1984. The Garden’s seed bank collection currently holds accessions from 60 species in the CPC’s National Collection. We have recently been testing the quality (seed fill) and viability (germination) of all accessions in our seed bank to better understand these collections and to detect loss of viability before it’s too late. Results show species with older accessions (30+ years) that have maintained high viability while others species show consistently low viability. Species in which seed age is generally a poor predictor of viability, suggest population-level variation or other factors. Species with inherently or persistently low viability regardless of age may require alternative techniques for ex situ conservation. X-rays show that seed fill may be an important limiting factor to ex situ conservation in some species. We plan to repeat tests over time to make appropriate decisions in reaction to observed viability loss in real time, maximizing the potential use of these important collections in conserving our nation’s rarest plant communities. Tests are recorded in a publicly searchable database- www.livingcollections.org.