More musings by the Registrar

15 years ago

Anybody read "More musings by the Registrar" in the last BSI journal of 2008?

I was a bit confused by the article. I guess in the end he was suggesting that we grow more species from seed to help with their conservation. Yet, before I got to the end I feel like he spent too much time insulting/critiquing the very people he wants to do this conservation effort.

He also made the claim that there is too much inbreeding and gave some unsupported numbers to show that is the case. For example, he claims that most Neo hybrids come from just 10 species. I wish he would have shown us the raw facts and then maybe he could have offered some suggestions for new species to use.

I have been growing some species from seed, but I'm not so sure that I'm helping with their conservation since I have a hard time getting anybody to buy or trade for those species once I get them grown out a bit. I guess Derek's basic idea is sound, but there needs to be a lot more discussion on the implementation.

Comments (6)

sdandy
15 years ago
I haven't read it, but I can understand the point. But your point is clearly valid about not being any commercial support of such efforts. It seems like the obvious support would be private 'collectors' and botanical gardens...but there certainly are not enough to justify a lot of growers to supply such a limited demand.

Also there is an issue of supply of seed. Personally I would love to be able to get seed or plants of various species. But there is not a system set up to collect and distribute many plants that are not seen to have any commercial value. Even if people have oddball or rare-in-cultivation species, what is their impetus to bother collecting and cleaning seeds for others? How many people would make it worth those growers' efforts? And with limited collecting from the wild that further limits distribution that could help with conservation, does that hurt such an effort?

Sorry, I guess I am not really adding much other than to say I'd be interested in growing species but have limited access.
bromadams
Original Author
15 years ago
The BSI seed fund does have some odd species, but who can trust what you get?
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sdandy
15 years ago
Yeah, and so does Brom-L. And Michael's has quite a few plants (oh, and Tropiflora to a lessor extent). But between those sources that I know of, they certainly aren't exhaustive. There seems to be room for more suppliers in diversity, but still probably not much more room in demand.
bromadams
Original Author
15 years ago
So far it's an idea and not a plan. I have to wonder if it will ever make the transition. What's the incentive? I know I'm facing some frost warnings tonight and I don't plan on grabbing any species and bring them inside! My "indiscriminate" hybrids are getting the warmth.
LisaCLV
15 years ago
I haven't seen the article so I can't comment on it. What issue was it in, and is there an online version? For some reason I don't get the Journals until months after they were published. I know they're running a bit behind in getting them out, but the one I received most recently was dated M-A '08!

Re: BSI seed bank: I wouldn't trust what you get. The seeds are labeled whatever the person who donated them thinks it is, and in many cases it's either wrong or got cross-pollinated with something else.
bromadams
Original Author
15 years ago
I don't know if Ken is putting the newest journals online. It takes an incredible amount of work to get a journal online and I salute Ken for his hard work.

The latest journal doesn't have a members password so I can't get in to the members only area right now. I'll check with Ken and see what's up. He may be waiting for the new Webmaster to solve that.