Establishing living gene banks for Interior Highlands and Atlantic Plain populations of six Carya Nutt. species.

Project: Complete. March 2024

In collaboration with United States Botanic Garden (USBG) and BGCI-US

Project Partner: Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG)

Hickories (Carya spp.) are an ecologically and economically important genus, and a dominant component of many forests across the eastern United States. Pecan (C. illinoinensis) is the most valuable nut tree in North America. Wild Carya populations are a potentially important crop wild relative genetic resource. Carya are considered exceptional species, unsuitable for conventional seed bank storage. Living collections of Carya grown in botanical gardens and arboreta are therefore necessary for the ex situ conservation of the genus, until and unless suitable cryopreservation protocols can be developed.

This project is part of the North American Fruit and Nut Tree (NAFANT) Crop Wild Relative (CWR) Conservation Partnerships a collaboration between BGCI-US and USBG.

Project Goals

To enhance ex situ collections of six underrepresented Carya species found in Arkansas. Targeting the species: Carya aquatica, C. illinoinensis, C. laciniosa, C. myristiciformis, C. ovalis, C. texana

Key Achievements

MBG successfully collected seeds from all six of the target Carya species and visited collection sites across three regions of Arkansas. Overall, there were many new populations of these priority species scouted, mapped and collected from. The occurrence data of priority species can contribute meaningfully to the understanding of the distribution of the six priority species in Arkansas and expands the known range of a few of the species.

Seed retained at MBG is being stratified for 4-5 months. Seedlings will be planted in garden grounds in Saint Louis or at offsite MBG properties. Additional seed material is being maintained in MBG Seed Bank to undergo additional seed storage testing, where quantities of seed allow.

In the interest of creating and backing up diverse meta collections across sites, seed from target taxa will be offered to interested conservation partners. MBG would like to continue collection of Carya species across their range.