The Plant Collections Network is pleased to announce that five collaborative projects have been awarded funding this year through the Association’s Tree Gene Conservation Partnership with the US Forest Service. These scouting and collecting trips target the following threatened species in the wild: Quercus havardii and Magnolia pyramidata in South-Central states, Alectryon macrococcus var macrococcus in Hawaii, Trans-Pecos oaks in Texas, and Magnolia portoricensus in Puerto Rico.
The goal of this partnership is to establish living gene banks of US at-risk tree species, by collecting seed from across its native range to capture broad genetic diversity then distributing propagules to public gardens for safeguarding in ex situ collections. Efforts focus on taxa native to US forests which cannot be conserved through traditional seedbanking methods. Matching funds support scouting and collecting trips, propagation, and distribution of propagules.
