Above board seed collection?

Jessi

Plant
So I know collection from the wild is frowned upon in this community, which is totally reasonable! I do have a question however regarding seed collection in the interest of conservation? Say I know a patch of plants on the edge of a strip of cottages, which aren't in immediate danger but could become threatened very quickly. The patch isn't tiny, but one big dredging initiative or construction project could certainly wipe them out... what's my best bet for getting them cataloged? Can I become a registered collector in Ontario or is that something I need to talk to FishnWildlife about?
However it gets done, I'd sleep better at night knowing we had my local population in the vault...
 
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Hal

Carnivorous Plant Addict
Staff member
Collecting a few seeds isn’t out of line in my opinion. They won’t remain viable forever so your best bet would be to get them growing in a bog bed or pot outdoors.
 

Carson Hardy

Carnivorous Plant Addict
I am just one voice in all this:

In my opinion, harvesting some seeds is okay. Take some, not all. Take some from one plant, but, also sprinkle some of their own seeds around the mother plant. If there is only one plant with seeds, I don't touch it.

I have collected wild seeds, and shared them with other members. Hoping that the genetics have been added to the horticultural side, and therefore have less future pressures. Sometimes, they are free, other times they are a modest price for time to package etc.
 

Jessi

Plant
thanks for the input folks! I believe I've seen drosera rotundifolia and intermedia as well as purps which all flower prolifically; so I may snag a few pods this summer and make up for it by dusting some others in ideal spots! my plan would be to share most of them, get the "eggs" out of "one basket" so to speak. not to mention the purps are gorgeous specimens, would make awesome show plants!
 

PipTarou

Plant
If on private land, ask permission. Relocating plants is never generally recommended.

CL, if public access is allowed then I collect seeds from non-threatened plants.

My method is: I leave 2 flower stalks untouched and empty 1 for me. I haven't run into any area with very few plants, but if I ever do I want to take some of the seeds to spread in the area around the plants.
 

Smilodonichthys

Carnivore
So I know collection from the wild is frowned upon in this community, which is totally reasonable! I do have a question however regarding seed collection in the interest of conservation? Say I know a patch of plants on the edge of a strip of cottages, which aren't in immediate danger but could become threatened very quickly. The patch isn't tiny, but one big dredging initiative or construction project could certainly wipe them out... what's my best bet for getting them cataloged? Can I become a registered collector in Ontario or is that something I need to talk to FishnWildlife about?
However it gets done, I'd sleep better at night knowing we had my local population in the vault...
I pretty much agree with what others have said but tend to use the 1 in 10 rule myself where I only collect 1 in 10 pods or seeds from any population. I collect none from red listed or non locally abundant single plants. I also never seed collect where there is a good chance others will collect. There is a rare pinguicula site in Italy on a roadside cliff where it was noted over many years that every seed capsule from every plant was taken. Permits are required to collect in national, provincial and city parks. Crown land is fine to collect from without permit. Here's some collection guidelines that I use: https://saveplants.org/best-practices/collecting-seeds-wild-rare-plant-populations/ https://goert.ca/gardeners-restoration/propagation/collection-guidelines/ https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/forestry/tree-seed/tree-seed-publications/native_woody_plant_seed_collection_guide.pdf
 

Smilodonichthys

Carnivore
Another thing you might want to look into is providing plant accessions to your local botanical garden or herbarium. You should contact them to see if they would be interested and whether a permit would be required. That's the route I would go if you have conservation concerns for that population. Here's a link to the UBC botanical garden to give you some info on collections: https://botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/research-collections/plant-collections/
 
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