Hello Karl;
Many seed/plant preservation efforts come through academic-based organizations which AIS could fund. AIS is a science-based community organization and should be able to qualify for NSF grants to help in this effort. SIGNA and AIS sponsors plant collection efforts of native populations by native academic facilites.
One of the items on my agenda as the new RVP for Region 8 in January is try and coordinate efforts between our local arboretum (funded through the U of MN.), a local museum,(funded through City and State)Master Gardeners (funded through State and gardening on U of M property)and NSF to construct a test/preservation garden for native iris variety, this could also be used for non-native species.
Bill Dougherty
"Karl Miller" <larklabel@kcisp.net> wrote:
>Here is a dilemma for the current times. Plant species around the world are going extinct faster now than any other time since the ice age. The fact that this and other iris are going extinct should be a call to action to the AIS. Unfortunately many of these countries have greater problems than looking out for the survival of their endangered flora.
>While this plant is not an American problem, the AIS is essentially the World iris society and should lead the charge to finding ways to collect seed and disseminate them to gardens/gardeners around the world and get some reserve stock established. Even if it does not get used in a hybridizing program, the fact that the species would continue is totally worthwhile.
>There is a great American garden story related to this. In the late 1700's, William Bartram collect some seed from a tree in the Georgia/South Carolina area. It was later named the Franklinia tree. It has never been seen in the wild since. Every Franklinia alamaha in the world has come from that original seed collected more than 200 years ago.
>What can we as irisarians do to make this happen?
>Karl Miller
>Lark Label
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>120 North Old Manor
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>larklabel@kcisp.net
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: wmcdougherty@cs.com
> To: sibrob@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 5:16 PM
> Subject: Re: [sibrob] I. sibirica ssp. erirrhiza
>
>
> Hello everyone;
>
> Because of its endangered status we may never see seed from "erirrhiza" But it would be interesting to see if it could add some climatic tolerance.
>
> Two items I dropped researching which have always intrigued me was I. phragmitetorum and I. sanguinea from China. C. Grey-Wilson wrote in the BIS Species Guide that it had been rediscovered (I. phragmitetorum) and that material should be available in the future. I wrote to the BIS Species chair (who knew nothing and referred me to Marty) and he gave me Grey-Wilson's e-mail address but I never heard anything.
>
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