Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden

Sponsoring Seed Collections

Given that many North American botanic gardens are privately funded non-profit institutions, the success of their programs frequently are dependent on grants, government agency and public support. In order to protect the botanic gardens resources, funding for seed banking and other ex-situ conservation services must be incorporated into conservation plans and is encouraged for all collections.

This page provides information on the seed bank specifically for those parties seeking to place seed collections into storage at RSABG. The following brief program description outlines: conditions of acceptance and program funding policy; general collecting guidelines; field documentation information required for accessioning and defining seed collections.

Conditions of Acceptance

Seed collections and Seed Program activities at RSABG are restricted to those that serve to execute and advance the mission of the Garden.
Collections stored at RSABG as part of mitigation, habitat, or species conservation plans must be funded. Financial support of all collections stored at RSA is encouraged. RSABG reserves the right to deny acceptance, return, or dispose of non-funded seed collections.
Seed collections deposited at RSABG for storage are accessioned as part of the Garden's collection and become the property of the Garden.
Seed collections accepted at RSABG are stored without condition. RSA cannot be held financially responsible for loss in seed viability or for loss of or damage to a seed collection. The Garden cannot guarantee to maintain the viability of the seed collection. Seed re-collection or horticultural re-generation, if required to restore viability of a collection, is not covered under these guidelines.
Seed collections must be legal collections.
Seed collections should be high quality collections.
Voucher specimens are necessary for all new accessions. If a previous voucher exists indicate the reference number and institution where it resides.

Collection and Documentation Guidelines

Collection sampling protocol will vary for different species, size and existing threats to a plant population, the current season seed production and the purpose of the seed collection. Contact the Seed Curator for assistance in designing the most appropriate sampling protocol. Seed collections sent to RSABG for storage should adhere to these general guidelines and be submitted with the following information and documentation.

Ethics and legalities: Collections must be made with permission of any land owner or land management agency and adhere to the guidelines set by any applicable local state and federal laws. This includes obtaining any required state and/or federal permits and adhering to the conditions set by the permit(s). Copies of any required permits and/or agency authorization must accompany the seed collection.

Purpose: Include a statement of rationale or purpose for seed banking the species, i.e. program donation for institutional use, conservation collection, impending or anticipated restoration, etc.

Documentation: Detailed collection information is critical to accession, define, and document a collection. A copy of the Garden's Field Record Form is available to be printed out from this web site. See: Seed Collection Field Data Form. Copies of any permits and/or mitigation requirements associated with the seed collection are also required. Where possible a photocopy of a USGS topographic map with the collection site identified should accompany the collection along with a herbarium voucher speciman. If a voucher speciman already exists, please provide the name of the institution where the specimen is deposited and the speciman collection number.

Seed generated from plants in cultivation need to have similar documentation including but not limited to: lineage data, number of maternal individuals represented in the seed collection, and be referenced to a vouchered wild collection.

Proper sampling: For high quality "conservation collections" sampling of a population should be made in a manner that optimizes capturing the genetic diversity of the population without harming the plant populations' long term viability. Depending upon the purpose and ultimate use of the seed collection, collections can be made consisting of seed from all individuals sampled within the population - packaged collectively - or the collection can be made along maternal lines where seeds from each individual sampled are kept separate. Where collections are to be used for seed regeneration and future plant restoration projects storing seed along maternal lines will enable the researcher to determine the number of parental individuals contributing to the regenerated seed collection.

How much: The size of the seed collection will ultimately depend on the purpose of the collection, collection timing, the size of the plant population, the quantity and quality of seeds that each plant produces and the taxa itself. For high quality conservation collections, in general, we recommend sending a minimum of 2,500 seeds per population from 50 individuals randomly sampled throughout the populations distribution. Obviously situations exist where this size of a collection would not be practical or could negatively impact the population.

It is typical for different individuals within a population to produce more seeds than others therefore it is important not to bias a "bulk seed" collection in favor of these unusually productive individuals. Where it is deemed necessary to take advantage of the seed production from these fecund individuals these samples should be kept separate from the other collections. Occasionally a collection will have to be made from very small and/or unproductive populations. In these instances a smaller percentage of the seeds will have to be collected with the hopes of recollecting in the future or with the plans to germinate and grow some of the plants to maturity to multiply the seed collection.

Quality: It is important to note in the field whether the seeds that are being collected have viable embryos. Many instances occur where a high percentage of seed consist of only an empty seed coat or have been heavily parasitized. In this situation a larger seed collection would be necessary. Fully ripened mature seed is going to have the highest viability, the most vigor, and greatest longevity in storage. While it is sometimes possible to collect immature fruits, whose seed finishes ripening while attached to the harvested stems in the collection bag, this collection method should be avoided for important conservation collections.

Temporary Storage and Shipping: Most "orthodox" seeds should be air dried and loosely packaged in well sealed " breathable" paper bags or envelopes and sent to RSABG for processing as soon as possible. Post harvest care of the seeds is critical and every effort should be made to keep the seeds under moderate (room) temperature and relatively low humidity. Make certain that all collection bags and envelopes are well labeled.

For rare plant collections, collectors are encouraged to submit a Natural Diversity Data Base Native Species Field Survey Form to the California Department of Fish and Game. When the collector is submitting these forms a copy can be sent to RSABG in lieu of a separate collection form. In this situation please include the number of individuals sampled from as this data is not on the NDDB form. For general information on the Natural Diversity Data Base or for copies of their Field Survey Form contact the California Department of Fish and Game, 1416 Ninth Street, 12th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814 or call (916) 327-5956. The CNDDB Field Survey Form is also available as a PDF file on-line at: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/whdab/pdfs/natspec.pdf.

For more specific information on the seed storage program at RSA, contact the Seed Curator, Michael Wall.