Seed Swap ABAC 2018

Seed Swap: On January 27, 2018 I went to the sixth annual Plant and Seed Swap at the Wiregrass Farmers Market at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC). I heard of the event through the Georgia Native Plant Society (GNPS) email list serve. I thought this could be an interesting event, see some GNPS members, and get some seeds for my seed collection. In addition I thought it would be neat to give away some seeds myself.

I had a lot of seeds of Sarracenia oreophila, the Green Pitcher Plant, that I discussed in a previous post. I had 1389 seeds, but used 289 for my 2017 seed planting. With 1100 remaining, I had some to spare. I felt I could spare 700. Also seeds get old and lose their viability, although I don't know how long these seeds would last. The idea to give some very rare seeds to others could interest people. I also wanted to put into practice what I learned about such legality of this type of stuff. Paranoid on wanting to find the legality of giving seeds away of a federal and state listed plant, I contacted the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. This call was one of the most helpful. She answered my question and gave me my answer, in writing! It said I was allowed to bring such seeds into Georgia and give them away to the Georgia Native Plant Society. If I can give seeds to them, I can give seeds to anyone. I always fear that a "give away" can also be seen as a promotion item to encourage purchases, but the website stated: "No money changes hands, this swap is an outreach event by the Wiregrass Farmers Market." That settled that. Already in Georgia, I packed up my seeds and went to the event.

After 2 hours driving, an easy drive as there is not much in this part of Georgia, I arrived. There were few cars in the parking lot. I then looked up on my phone to see if I was at the right place at the right time. The website said the 28th! I was disappointed, I was there on the 27th. Defeated, I cranked up my car to leave. Before leaving the parking lot, I thought let me turn around and talk to the people inside the building. I asked if the seed swap was tomorrow. They said no, it is located at a bigger building in the back of the facility. I was back on for the swap! Seems the website had the wrong date listed, which makes sense. Why would they schedule an event on a Sunday, that is church day? Just as I thought, Saturday was the correct day. I arrived at the correct place and found some tables.

I then looked to set up to give away seeds. I saw another GNPS member take a spot and display their seeds. I reintroduced myself to her. Not sure what to do, I walked around and watched others. I then took a seat and started to give seeds away. I gave at least 20 packs of 15-20 seeds away to people who came to my spot. I think the full number of people was 23. I gave between 200-300 seeds away. I know this from my empty 100 packets. To the fellow GNSP member, I gave 3 packets, 300 seeds.

Georgia Museum of Agriculture at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Sixth Annual Seed Swap 2018

This was a successful event. I gave seeds of a rare plant away to others. I also handed out a sheet of information.

"Sarracenia oreophila, The Green Pitcher Plant -First off, it is not federal illegal to own federally endangered plants. Many of such plants grow on lands owned by private citizens. The parent plant for these seeds came from USFWS Permit TE022690 holder, authorized to sale cultivated plants. I obtained, grew, and self-pollinated the plant in 2016. I obtained 1389 seeds. I planted 240 seeds in 2016; 207 (86%) germinated.

To grow: a 50/50 mixture of sphagnum moss and sand is suggested. This type of soil is low in nutrients. Do not use potting soil and never fertilize this plant; too many nutrients will kill this plant. Water only with clean rainwater or distilled water, as water from most facets has too many natural and added nutrients that will kill these plants. Keep the soil moist, this plant grows in bogs/swamps; yet do not keep flooded. Give plenty of sunlight, the more the better. Questions Contact: ------------. Let me know if they grow! I forgot to mention, these plants eat bugs."

Did I use the wrong sale or sell?

On the back of the sheet:

"Do not plant these seeds/plants in the wild. These seeds are old and “inbred,” thus lower quality. The plant and seeds are also “domesticated.” For these reasons and it is illegal, these seeds/plants should not be planted in the wild. Federal laws are complex, keep these seeds/plants within the state of Georgia. Different states have different laws on possession of such plants. Much research should be conducted and understood before moving this seeds/plants to another state. To learn more about this and other endangered plants do research! https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/. Support local environmental organizations.

I want to thank: Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Native Plant Society, Georgia Botanical Society, New England Carnivorous Plant Society, International Carnivorous Plant Society, US Department of Agriculture, US Fish & Wildlife Service, other state agencies, Maedowview Biological Research Station, and others involved in helping to recover endangered plant species. This was made by ---------------, everything is his opinion and not that of any of the listed agencies."

I also wrote on each slip: "Illegal to sell" as I have seen people on Ebay try to sell 10 seeds of pitcher plants for dollars.

So I was able to put seeds back into the hands of the people to help understand federally endangered plants. The people probably have no idea what they got. It is not easy to get these types or seeds.

I was also given some Ricinus communis, castor bean, and Zamia integrifolia, coontie seeds. I think that is the correct species name for the coontie, I will find out later. Those are two neat plants I didn't have seeds previously. I almost forgot, I was given carrot seeds as well.

Oh, more about the picture I have posted. Those tables with newspaper covering them, that is where people sat to hand out seeds or plants. There must have been about 10-12 people handing out seeds, myself included. Maybe 30-50 people came. It wasn't too large, but it wasn't too little. I was dividing out seeds into packets, handing them out, and talking non-stop. I enjoyed the event.

This post was just a short journal entry for the event. Maybe it was interesting. Post comments if you would like and thank you for reading! Have a nice day!

Sarracenia Endangered Species Seed Collection - 2016

Sarracenia Endangered Species Seed Collection - 2016

From Left to Right: Sarracenia flava (the 4 tall pitchers), S. oreophila (the small pitcher toward the bottom, Sarracenia rubra subsp. alabamensis (practically brown and all but died back for the winter) growing in glass containers within a bucket.

Sarracenia rubra subsp. alabamensis flower stem. Behind the one I am holding is a green flower bud and stem that is from S. oreophila.

March 2016 I purchased one of each Sarracenia oreophila, Sarracenia rubra subsp. alabamensis, and Sarracenia rubra ssp. jonesii rhizomes/roots from Meadowview Biological Research Station in Woodford, VA. They have the only USFWS permit to sell growing plants of these endangered species. These are federally listed Endangered Plant Species.

I obtained 506 seeds from this plant. Self-pollinated Sarracenia rubra subsp. alabamensis, a federally endangered plant.

 A few months later, plants bloomed. I put my plants in different windows, some on different floors of my house. Most windows have curtains that would close the plants between window and curtain. Paint brushes are cheap and I bought a pack of 20 or so assorted brushes of different sizes. These were simple paint brushes, the type children use for water colors. I selected the softer smaller thread brushes for efficiency in gathering pollen and pollinating. I took a single brush, gathered pollen that fell into the base of the Sarracenia flower “cup,” brushed the 5 stigmas with the pollen brush. Then I stuck the brush into the flower pot to redo the process later. Paint brushes were kept with the single pot, single species. I pollinated the flowers for a month on consecutive days, sometimes skipping a day or weekend, basically whenever I remembered and walked by the plants. Easily I performed this task 10 times throughout flowering. I repeated the pollinating in case the stigma or pollen were not active on one day, maybe they would be active on the next. Brushes were kept with their pot/species. I did not cross pollinate. This wasn’t by design and I didn’t care about hybrids. This was just how it was done. I didn’t really expect to get results, definitely not this many seeds.

Months later capsules formed, developed, and in September 2016 were harvested. The capsules were opened and seeds counted.

Sarracenia oreophila pitchers and flowers.

Sarracenia rubra subsp. alabamensis

It had 2 flowers. I pollinated the flowers. I didn’t notice the seed capsule were mature until I touched one and seeds sprinkled out. I then took action to try to collect the seeds. From 1 full capsule and maybe 65-90% of the other capsule, I collected 506 seeds.

Sarracenia rubra ssp. jonesii

This plant did bloom, but didn’t turn out so well. I blame my care for this. It could have been in a better location.

Sarracenia Oreophila had 2 flowers. It formed 2 pods.

Capsule 1: 702 seeds of a brown/tan color.

Capsule 2: 687 seeds of a purple color.

Total 1389 seeds. That is an average of 694.5 seeds per capsule.

 

Sarracenia oreophila flowers

 

 

702 seeds from a single Sarracenia oreophila seed capsule.

 From capsule 2, I was able to separate a single compartment of the 5 compartment capsuled flowers. It contained 153 seeds. A fifth of 687 is 137.4, so seeds per compartment can vary. This may be due to pollinating. A Sarracenia flower has 5 stigmas (female part). I took efforts to pollinate each stigma. Perhaps I succeeded better with some stigmas more than others.

When examining the seeds of the Sarracenia oreophila, I noticed the capsules had seeds of different colors; rather one capsule had brown/tan seeds and the other purple. This color difference could be due to many factors: nutrition for that flower, sunlight on the flower, maturity and development of the flower, air exposure, you name it. If for some extravagant reason I mixed brushes which I did not, I did not pollinate just one flower with a brush and the other with a different brush. I was lazy and pollinated the flowers with the same brush. Also the seeds were the same color throughout the capsule, not multi-colored within.

Sarracenia oreophila seeds from the same plant, but different seed capsules. Note the different colors!