Non-profit Organization Fights to Save America’s Most Endangered Plants
A national effort among many institutions is underway to save America’s most endangered plants. The Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) and its network of 36 institutions have quietly been working for the past 24 years to secure seed of the nation’s most vulnerable and valuable native plants, learn about them, then grow and restore them in the wild. Many of these species have fallen to such low numbers in their habitats that active restoration work, using material from the CPC seed bank, is necessary to prevent their extinction. Currently, the number of plant species safeguarded in seed banks and living collections has passed the 700 mark. The Collection has over nine million seed providing a working seed bank for restoration of the vulnerable native plants of the United States.
Tags: Center for Plant Conservation, endangered plants, restoration, seeds