Conserving seed from the rare and endangered flora of the USA

Seed collections are made from the most endangered US plant species and preserved in seed banks for research and conservation.

Yellow flowers surrounded by stones

Through our partners the Center for Plant Conservation (CPC), threatened plants are prioritised and seed is collected and banked by CPC member organisations with a duplicate seed collection provided to the US national germplasm system, and detailed collection data provided to the MSB Partnership Data Warehouse.

Kew project leader 

Michael Way

Kew support 

Naomi Carvey
Tiziana Cossu

Dr Katherine Heineman, Center for Plant Conservation

Dr. Joyce Maschinski, Center for Plant Conservation

The project has succeeded in direct collection of 215 samples of seed from species that are nationally threatened (categorized as G1, G2 by Natureserve) or regionally rare (categorized as T1, T2). With combined efforts and additional funding provided to CPC from US Forest Service, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the California Biodiversity Initiative, CPC participating institutions have collected approximately 805 seed accessions from 316 globally rare species during the timeframe of this partnership.

A particular achievement has been the advancement of the California seed banking partnership, California Plant Rescue (CaPR) comprising ten botanical institutions working together to safeguarding the flora of California in conservation seed collections.

The Bass Charitable Corporation