SPECIES LISTS

 

Which species are included in the lists?

Any native species can be collected for the National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank Project and taxa are continually being added to our list. We do NOT collect threatened and endangered, globally rare, crop or non-native species, even if the non-native species is native to a different part of the US. For state-listed species we can collect as long as we are not collecting in the state that the species is threatened or endangered. For example Hypericum kalmianum is threatened in Illinois, but collecting this species in Wisconsin, where it is not listed, is acceptable. We also exclude any species listed as G1 or G2 by a State Natural Heritage Program.

We are collecting from wild populations only, not from cultivated or restored populations. The Center for Plant Conservation is already seed-banking rare plants in the US for ex-situ conservation. Although the majority of the species on our list are from the Midwestern states, and in particular tallgrass prairie habitat, we are not limited to collecting from this immediate geographic area or habitat type.

 

What information can be found on the species lists?

Our target species list shows the species that are assigned to the Chicago Botanic Garden for the Seeds of Success (national name for Millennium Seed Bank Project) including family name, USDA code and common name. The assigned column refers to either Chicago Botanic Garden staff or contract seed collectors that intend to collect this species.

The collected species list refers to those species that have been successfully collected and accepted by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It does not include the accessions of species that we have kept at the Chicago Botanic Garden seed bank. Please email the seed bank coordinators at msb@chicagobotanic.org for collection information.

 

Where can I find the national collecting list, not just the Chicago Botanic Garden?

To see which collecting group in the United States is collecting a specific species, search the database at http://www.nps.gov/plants/sos/species/index.htm.