Chicago Botanic Garden Spring 2019

What is in the Dixon National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank? e Seed Bank contains 10,238 seed accessions, representing 1,713 species, collected from 15 states in the Upper Midwest. In partnership with the Cen- ter for Plant Conservation, a national consortium of 48 botanic gardens that collect seeds and do research on rare species, we are banking 11 of the rarest species in the Upper Midwest region. is includes plants such Pitcher’s this- tle, eastern prairie white fringed orchid, and Mead’s milkweed. What other ways are the seeds being used? Right now, we have a project focused on collecting tough native species that provide nectar for monarchs and native bees. Milkweed and other nectar-pro- ducing plants are collected from road- sides and other parcels with adverse growing conditions. We are restoring test plots in the Forest Preserves of Cook County, including the Bartel Grassland in Matteson, Illinois. We’re hoping these genetically resilient “na- tive winners” will perform important ecosystem services in marginal areas awaiting full-scale restoration. How do we get the seeds? Sta and graduate students in the joint graduate program in plant biology and conservation through Northwestern University and the Garden go on col- lection trips throughout the Upper Midwest. We also acquire seeds, for a fee, from knowledgeable contract col- lectors in the region. To capture genetic diversity, collectors look for large, healthy populations. ey obtain appropriate permits from landowners, document where popula- tions occur using GPS devices, and ac- quire information about soil and cli- mate conditions and nearby plants. Seed samples representing at least 50 maternal plants are put in paper bags and sent with a data sheet to the Dixon National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank and National Tallgrass Prairie Prepara- tion Laboratory. How are they preserved? A team of Garden sta and volunteers led by Seed Bank Manager David Sol- lenberger prepare seeds for storage. In the Seed Quarantine Room, seeds are separated from other plant material by hand or with small tools such as sieves, rubbing boards, and blowers. After be- ing counted, weighed, and cleaned, they are X-rayed to determine whether there is embryo viability. All but about 25 seeds (which are sent to the Repro- ductive Biology Laboratory) are slowly dried to 15 percent humidity, carefully labeled and packaged in heat-sealed foil containers, and— nally—stored in the Dixon National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank. How do we share the seeds and seed data? Each seed collection is divided and we send half to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Center for Ge- netic Resource Preservation in Fort Collins, Colorado. In the event of a natural disaster, we don’t want all of our seeds in one place. Records for these collections are available through the Germplasm Resources Information Network database. Our data also is shared with the national Seeds of Suc- cess program, a program led by the Bu- reau of Land Management that serves to record, preserve, and safeguard im- portant ora for restoration and con- servation science activities within the United States. Any researcher who wishes to use seed for a project can send us a proposal to obtain seed. For in- stance, we currently send plant materi- al resulting from seed cleaning to re- searchers at the University of Chicago’s Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy to test for possible medicinal uses. Learn more chicagobotanic.org/research Seeds are stored at minus 18 degrees Celsius. chicagobotanic.org 21