Seed and Bulb Exchanges, some Comments

Max Withers maxwithers@gmail.com
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/…

> ------------------------------
>
> 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.
> ======================================================================
>
> 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.
>
>   


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