Seed and Bulb Exchanges, some Comments
Max Withers (Tue, 18 Jul 2006 11:19:22 PDT)
There is an interesting article in the new Chron. of Higher Ed. about
how the publication of new species leads almost instantly to their
extinction (thanks to poachers and the ubiquitous "German and Japanese
collectors"):
http://chronicle.com/free/v52/i46/46a01201.htm
If botanists worked with seed exchanges, they could ameliorate some of
the pressure on rare plants. Of course, in the case of extremely scarce
plants like Ariocarpus bravoanus, exchanges won't help much. See:
http://www.living-rocks.com/bravonthedge.htm
Both links from Botany Photo of the Day:
http://ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/2006/…
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 16:44:03 -0400
From: "Dell Sherk" <dells@voicenet.com>
Subject: Re: [pbs] Seed and Bulb Exchanges, some Comments
To: "'Pacific Bulb Society'" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <20060717204342.E8B8A4C00B@lists.ibiblio.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Dear Diane,
Yes, I think your comments are right on, as usual.
Dell
-----Original Message-----
From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org]
On Behalf Of Diane Whitehead
Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 2:15 PM
To: Pacific Bulb Society
Subject: Re: [pbs] Seed and Bulb Exchanges, some Comments
I haven't yet heard some really good reasons why seeds of rare and
endangered species should not be grown by hobbyists.
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The seed exchanges I was thinking of when I said that seeds of
endangered plants shouldn't be offered on them are the ones that have
over 5000 seed offerings each year. The seeds go out in order of the
request being received, donors first. There is no guarantee that the
people receiving the seeds will be able to grow them.
NARGS (North American Rock Garden Society) will not list seed of
endangered plants. I don't know what happens if such seed is
donated. Perhaps it is given to a botanic garden, which is what
happens when CITES listed plants are discovered by Customs inspectors.
ACGBC (Alpine Garden Club of British Columbia) makes a point of not
publishing names of seeds if they don't have enough to meet expected
demand. If they receive a donation of only a few seeds, they will
give them to someone who has already demonstrated success with
similar seeds. This policy is in place for all seeds, not just
endangered ones.
The seedlists of specialized societies is the place for seeds of rare
plants. If I had a rare plant, I would first distribute it locally,
since it had already shown it could be grown successfully in my area.
(This would also give me a good chance of getting some back if mine
died.) Later I would send seed of it to a specialist list. Only
after it was well-established would I send seeds to a large general
list.