Pensive Tuesday: Your Program Will Be Deleted

After studying the interconnections between plants and fungi, I'm even more disturbed about the rate of extinctions happening on our little planet. I feel like parts of our bioprogram are being deleted at such a high rate of speed, most people don't even notice it.  Who remembers Cyanea dolichopoda, the Hawaiian haha? Seems to me if we keep deleting at our current rate, our program will be deleted, too!

I'm reminded of the Star Trek Next Generation episode, "Remember Me", when Dr. Crusher gets caught in a warp bubble anomaly, and people and things keep disappearing from the ship, until she's alone. The episode came out in 1990, just before that Cyanea disappeared, come to think of it....Dr. Crusher's isolation is where we may be going: The Age of Alone....

Plants are getting caught in the pincers of genetic alteration for trademarked corporate profit, and habitat loss from climate change and our ever-surging population. Lush scenes like this (Fairchild Tropical Gardens) have already disappeared from many people's lives....

But there are some bright spots. The Seed Savers Exchange in the US makes me happy, because for about 40 years, people who care have been harvesting, banking, and exchanging seeds of just about every heirloom plant you could think of. Many varieties are still around, instead of deleted, because ordinary people have cared enough to keep them.

 http://www.seedsavers.org/

Universities are getting into the plant repository business in record numbers, but I'm a little suspicious of some of that activity, given that many universities have strong ties to corporations that genetically manipulate a species, then make it patented and sterile to boot. Not impressive.

Many plant societies are concentrating on preserving species. Several cactus and succulent societies around the world have extensive seed banks and make some available for sale and exchange. Considering how vulnerable many succulent species are, living in tiny niches, that makes me happy. I want today's kids to enjoy the same wonderful plants that I grow and love.

What plant-saving projects have you seen, or participated in, in your part of the world?

Pensive Tuesday: Poaching and Ex Situ Conservation

Today's post is just my early musings on the big problem of plant conservation on our planet these days. Two topics that interest me are the problem of plant poaching, and the promise of ex situ conservation. Those of us who grow endangered or extinct-in-the-wild plants and share our knowledge of them and enthusiasm about them for others are definitely engaged in good work. Botanical gardens and collections that preserve seed and DNA are very important as species go extinct.

I know in my part of the world, that some species of Mammillaria cacti, my favorite, are being poached to extinction in the wild.

 Ditto Tillandsias.

And habitat loss is a huge problem for both genera. So over the next few weeks, I'll be going over my collection with an eye to what needs to be conserved, and how best to do that. If you've got books or articles on the subject that you can recommend, let me know! I'm researching....

Pensive Tuesday: Why Do We Do It?

Here's our beach. See the hint of rainbow and those nice, blooming yuccas? Great stuff for Pensive Tuesday! My question today is, "Why do you grow them?" Why do you collect, grow, and nurture the group of plants that particularly charm and fascinate you, whether it's mesembs, epiphytes, succulents or cacti, etc.? Why not just have a picture book, or one small pot growing on a windowsill? What are your motives?

One of my big motives is that I see the climate and natural landscape changing very dramatically and very fast, everywhere I live in the world. With my own eyes I saw the Alpine and Alaskan glaciers and permafrost melting away. I've seen various native species disappear without a trace within just a few seasons. I've seen massive bird populations shrinking to remnants in just a couple of decades. It's frightening.

I know that mesembs' natural habitats (mostly in S. Africa) are tiny and fragile patches of gorgeous land. I've read and heard from people who see them that those patches are changing; some are losing what little rainfall they have, others are under siege from invasives and land loss. Those of us who grow special plants can feel good, I think, in that we're caretaking species that are in danger, and that someday, somewhere, even if their native habitat is no longer habitable, these amazing plants can find homes and continue their life cycles.