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Re: 'native' plants vs.. 'other' plants

R. Beer wrote:
> 
> On Mon, 2 Mar 1998, Sean A. O'Hara wrote:
> 
> > The recent discussion about the 'ease' of growing native (or not!)
> > has inspired me to taken my e-pen in hand . . . (bare with me) ;-)
> >
> > All plants are 'native' - to some part of the world.
> 
> This is true, up to a point.  Disregarding hybrids which never occur in
> nature for many reasons, there is also the issue of changes in a plant
> when it is grown from seed in cultivation far from its habitat.
> 
> A thread in the Carnivorous Plants group illustrated this.  Insect-eating
> plants are a group that are threatened in many areas of the world
> including the U.S., because their habitats (bogs) tend to be looked upon
> as 'waste' land and are drained, destroying the habitat.  What is in
> cultivation represents only a very small part of the gene pool to begin
> with, the population coming from those is limited genetically.
> 
> In addition if I take seed from some of these plants and grow them in,
> say, Seattle for instance, :) it's likely that I like any other
> horticulurist, will select the plants that are the most robust.  There are
> going to plenty of plants that don't do well here, and they are not
> necessarily the ones that would have done well in a bog in Alabama.  After
> 3 or four generations, you can be almost sure that it's not the same
> plant.  This is not a statement against keeping threatened plants in
> existence in cultivation; it's just a statement that the plants, unless
> they are clones of the original, are *not* the plants from the area any
> more, and have very likely been selected for traits that would not let
> them prosper as well in their home habitats.
> 
> When plant collectors are looking for new garden-worthy plants in the
> wild, a very important consideration is provenance - what part of their
> range one collects plants from.  Plants from lower down a mountain might
> not be as hardy in another country as those collected higher up where
> winters are colder.  The cold hardiness might actually be the only feature
> worth noting among plants that otherwise look the same.
> 
> In Turkey last year, I collcted lots of a variety of Malva sylvestris from
> high up on Baba Dag mountain in the southwest.  It was a low
> ground-hugging form that made big mats.  (Lots of alpine forms of things
> have smaller leaves and small stature - you should have seen the chamomile
> up there! Actually, you can in my home page).  I brought the seed back and
> sure enough, it still has the low mat form and tiny leaves but it's not
> very happy at low elevations and not-so-intense light of Seattle.  The
> lower-elevation forms of the same species have absolutely no trouble here;
> they can be weedy actually.
> 
> So the point is, if you are going to try natives, provenance is another
> important thing to keep in mind; unless there is something outstanding
> about a particular form, try to collect seed from plants in the part of
> their range that most nearly resembles your own; that way they will have
> less adapting to do.

Bob

Here in New Zealand conservationists are undertaking the rehabilitation
of "bush" habitats on a number of islands which have been farmed or
otherwise cleared, with the intention of using them for sancturies for
native wildlife. Wherever possible they are using only seed gathered
from forest remnants still actually on the islands (often on
barely-accessable cliffs) or the closely-adjacent mainland, contending
that this will ensure they are planting not only the species but the
strains best adapted to the area.

Although most of the plants simply have to be put in and then left to
fend for themselves with little further tending this policy has lead to
a very high success rate, which bears out your suggestion that local is
likely to be best.

Moira
-- 
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand
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