North American Plant Collections Consortium Magnolia

Magnolia
North American Plant Collections Consortium
Magnolia Collection
Andrew Bunting, Curator, The Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College
Administered through the American Public Gardens Association (APGA),
the North American Plant Collections Consortium (NAPCC) is a network
of botanical gardens and arboreta located throughout North America. Its
goals are to coordinate a continent-wide approach to germplasm preservation and promote high standards of plant collections management.
NAPCC collections serve as an international reference collection for plant
identification and cultivar registration. Collection holders make germplasm available for taxonomic studies, evaluation, breeding and other
types of research.
Many botanical institutions throughout the United States and Canada
participate in the NAPCC. The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University holds NAPCC collections for Acer, Carya, Fagus, Stewartia, Syringa
and Tsuga. The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix has collections of
Agavaceae and Cactaceae. The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, holds
Acer, Malus, Magnolia, Quercus and Ulmus. In Florida, Fairchild Tropical
Gardens in Coral Gables holds Arecaceae (palm family) and cycads and
the adjacent Montgomery Botanical Center also participates in palms and
cycads. Relatively smaller institutions also participate. The Betty Ford
Alpine Garden in Vail, Colorado, holds a collection of alpine plants native
to Colorado. The Polly Hill Arboretum on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, has an NAPCC Stewartia collection and the Mt. Cuba Center in
Greenville, Delaware, holds Hexastylis and Trillium.
Several genera are so large that it is very difficult for any one institution
to hold all the species and cultivars, and some genera have such a wide
geographic distribution that no one institute could offer the right climate
and soil conditions for all the species. For example, the maples, Acer, are
found throughout North America and into Central America. They exist
throughout Europe, including the Mediterranean regions and spreading
eastward to the Middle East and northern parts of Africa. Maples are
found at high altitudes in the Himalayas and throughout China and all of
southeastern Asia, including the rainforests. Because maples come from
many different climatic parts of the world and because it is a very large
genus, it was decided that the NAPCC collection would be held by many
institutions throughout North America so that the breadth of the genus
can be cultivated among the group’s varied climates. The NAPCC multisite collection for Acer ranges geographically from The Arnold Arboretum
of Harvard University in the northeastern United States to the Atlanta Botanic Garden in the southeastern United States westward to the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden in southwestern Canada, and
several in between. Similarly, the collection of oaks, Quercus, is held by
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Nursery at Smithgall Woodland Garden, Atlantic Botanical Garden (Photo by Ethan Guthrie)
19 institutions. Currently, multi-site applications are being developed for
Paeonia, Hamamelis, Penstemon, cycads, palms and warm season conifers.
Forming the Magnolia NAPCC
From 2010-2011, I worked on developing a multi-institution collection for
Magnolia. Like Acer and Quercus, this is a genus with a wide geographic
range, including northern South America, Central America, North America, Cuba and parts of the Caribbean, China, India, Japan, South Korea
and many other countries in southeast Asia and adjacent Pacific Islands
east to Papua New Guinea. Therefore, it was necessary to solicit botanical
institutions from a wide geographic range within North America to fully
contain a diversity of species of Magnolia. This consortium also represents
those institutions with cultivar-centric collections. Some botanic gardens
and arboreta have both species and cultivars, like the Atlanta Botanical
Garden, but others, like the University of California Botanical Garden
at Berkeley and Quarryhill Botanical Garden, focus only on species for
which conservation is the key issue.
In order to develop an NAPCC collection for Magnolia, one of the first
steps was to assess botanical institutions across North America to see
which gardens already have holdings that are unique and then to determine which institutions would help represent the breadth of the genus.
Over 20 gardens and arboreta were considered for the consortium. It is
necessary for a garden with NAPCC status to meet several criteria, including sound plant records systems, labeling, interpretation and existence
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Magnolia
of a current collections policy, to name a few. At a future date other
gardens will undoubtedly be added. The following 14 institutions were
selected to form the consortium: University of Florida-North Florida Research and Education Center, Atlanta Botanical Garden, South Carolina
Botanical Garden, Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories andArboretum, JC
Raulston Arboretum, Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College, Morton
Arboretum, Powell Gardens, University of California Botanical Garden at
Berkeley, San Francisco Botanical Garden, Quarryhill Botanical Garden,
Hoyt Arboretum, University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and
Van Dusen Botanical Garden.
Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories and Arboretum, Scott Arboretum at
Swarthmore College and Powell Gardens are all very cultivar-centric gardens, while University of California Botanical Gardens at Berkeley, Atlanta Botanical Gardens, San Francisco Botanical Garden, Quarryhill Botanical Garden, Hoyt Arboretum and University of British Columbia Botanical Garden focus primarily on wild-collected specimens with a conservation focus. The aforementioned all have at least ten species or more with
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List status.
Quarryhill Botanical Garden has five species unique to the consortium
and Atlanta Botanical Garden adds four more species.
Magnolia virginiana var. australis 'Santa Rosa', Bartlett Research Arboretum (Photo by A.
Schettler)
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Member Institutes of the
Magnolia NAPCC
At the University of Florida-North
Florida Research and Education
Center in Marianna, there is a large
cultivar collection of over 100 taxa,
used for teaching and education
purposes. Many of the southeastern Asian species will grow here,
including M. figo, M. insignis and
M. maudiae. The Research Center
has a solid collection of “yellow
magnolias” and many of the new,
modern-day cultivars.
Atlanta Botanical Garden is located in the heart of Atlanta, Georgia.
This collection is strong both in
Magnolia 'Candy Kane' at University of Florida- rare and threatened species, and
North Florida Research and Education Center offers a varied cultivar collection.
(Photo by Gary Knox)
Seventy-three taxa make up the
collection.
Interesting species
include Magnolia cavaleriei, M. changhungtana, M. conifera var. chingii, M.
compressa and M. cylindrica. The collection is also strong in M. grandiflora
and M. virginiana cultivars.
South Carolina Botanical Garden is located on the campus of Clemson
University. This collection has expanded through the generosity of Richard Figlar, Past
President of the
Magnolia Society International. The Botanical Garden has
74 taxa, with 8
having
IUCN
status. Many interesting species
are represented,
including
M.
conifera, M. ernestii, M. insignis, M. laevifolia,
M.
lotungensis,
M. odora and M. Magnolia laevifolia (Photo by A. Schettler)
yuyuanensis.
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Magnolia
Bartlett Tree Research
Laboratories Arboretum is located in Charlotte, North Carolina.
This is the largest collection in the consortium with 256 taxa representing 486 individual specimens. Because
of its location, they are
also able to grow many
of the southeastern
Asian species. Bartlett
has strong cultivar collections of M. grandiflora, M. virginiana and
M. ×loebneri. Bartlett
adds 80 unique taxa, Magnolia kwantungensis (Photo by A. Schettler)
primarily represented
by cultivars, to the consortium. Interesting species abound here, too, including M. biondii, M. ernestii, M. figo, M. fordiana and M. foveolata.
The JC Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University is a small
arboretum named in honor of the late professor and world-famous plantsman, JC Raulston. The garden is located on the edge of campus in Raleigh, North Carolina. Representing 115 taxa, they have a fine balance of
species and cultivars. Like Atlanta Botanical Garden, the Raulston also
has a strong cultivar collection of M. grandiflora and M. virginiana. Inter-
Magnolia yuyuanensis at JC Raulston Aboretum (Photo by A. Schettler)
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esting species include
M. kwangtungensis, M.
laevifolia, M. lotungensis, M. platypetala, M.
yuyuanensis and M. zenii.
The Scott Arboretum
of Swarthmore College
is located just south
of Philadelphia. The
core collections have
a strong ornamental
component,
featuring a large selection
of “yellow magnolias”
that represent over
25 taxa. At the heart
of the collection is an
old Magnolia ×soulangeana collection with
many specimens over
80 years old. Original
specimens of Arbore- Magnolias at Swarthmore (Photo from Scott Arboretum)
tum introductions are
found on the campus, including M. virginiana var. australis ‘Henry Hicks’
and M. denudata ‘Swarthmore Sentinel’.
The Morton Arboretum is one of the coldest locations of any garden in the
consortium. Located in the Chicago suburbs in Lisle, Illinois, the Morton
focuses its collection on primarily wild-collected germplasm. Of the 56
taxa, there is a strong representation of M. stellata and M. kobus cultivars.
Species of known wild origin include M. acuminata, M. denudata, M. liliiflora, M. macrophylla, M. officinalis, M. salicifolia, M. sieboldii and M. tripetala.
Powell Gardens in Kingsville, Missouri, is located 30 miles east of Kansas
City. Like the Morton Arboretum, it experiences both summer and winter extremes in temperature. Powell has a large cultivar collection, particularly with many M. stellata and M. virginiana. M. grandiflora cultivars
might be the Powell’s strongest collection. There are several cultivars of
M. grandiflora which are unique to Powell and found in no other gardens
in the consortium, such as M.g. ‘Barbara Hull’, M. g. ‘Kansas City’, M. g.
‘Lexington’ and M.g. ‘Odessamo’.
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Magnolia
The University of California Botanical Gardens at Berkeley is a strong
conservation-based collection, featuring magnolias from southeastern
Asia, as well as Central American species. While the collection of 32 taxa
is relatively small, the quality of the collections is immense. Focusing on
wild-collected germplasm, Berekley has many interesting accessions, including M. amoena, M. chevalieri, M. dealbata, M.delavayi, M. globosa, M. guatemalensis, M. schiedeana, M. sharpii and M. sinica.
Located nearby is the San Francisco Botanical Garden. This collection has
both a strong species focus, as well as a sizeable cultivar representation
of M. ×soulangeana and M. campbellii. Of the 90 taxa, 13 have IUCN status.
Some of the interesting cultivars include M. c. ‘Betty Jessel’, M. c. ‘Langschlafer’, and M. c. ‘Strybing White’. The species collection is impressive
and includes M. aenea, M. aromatica, M. biondii, M. champaca, M. chapensis,
M. coco, M. conifera var. chingii, M. crassipes, M. guatamalensis, M. martini,
M. platypetala, M. rostrata, M. wilsonii and M. zenii.
Quarryhill Botanical Garden is a relatively young garden; however, it is
incredibly rich in its holdings. In large part, the collection has been built
by Director Bill McNamara as a result of his countless trips to Asia and
has a particularly strong focus on Chinese taxa. Quarryhill has 33 species of which 11 have IUCN status and 5 are unique species within the
consortium. Quarryhill is located on the grounds of the home of writer
Jack London in Glen Ellen, California, in the heart of wine country in the
Sonoma Valley. Some of the most notable species include M. aromatica,
M. chapensis, M. compressa, M. conifera, M. dandyi, M. delavayi, M. fulva, M.
Magnolia lotungensis (Photo by A. Schettler)
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guangxiensis, M. kwangtungensis, M. lacei, M. opipara, M. shiluensis, and M.
sinica.
Hoyt Arboretum is located two miles from downtown Portland, Oregon.
The Hoyt is notable for its collection of 32 species. The Arboretum focuses
on southeastern Asian germplasm, including M. campbellii, M. cylindrica,
M. dawsoniana, M. doltsopa, M. ernestii, M. floribunda, M. foggii, M. insignis,
M. lotungensis, M. megaphylla, M. stellata and M. wilsonii.
The University of British Columbia Botanical Gardens is located on the
edge of campus in Vancouver, British Columbia. This species-centric garden focuses on wild germplasm predominantly from China and southeastern Asia. The late Peter Wharton greatly contributed to the diversity
of the garden. Some of the more interesting holdings include M. amoena,
M. cavaleriei, M. conifera, M. fordiana var. fordiana, M. globosa, M. insignis, M.
martini, M. maudiae, M. sinica, M. yunnanensis and M. zenii. They also have
diverse cultivar collection of M. campbellii.
Also located in Vancouver, British Columbia, is Van Dusen Botanical
Garden. While this garden predominantly focuses on Magnolia cultivars,
they do boast a modest collection of species with 5 that have IUCN status.
There is a strong collection of Magnolia ×soulangeana cultivars.
Goals
While one of the primary goals of the consortium is to expand its holdings,
the group will work on both one- and five-year goals, reporting progress
to the Magnolia Group chair, Andrew Bunting. The one-year goals consist of:
1) Developing a relationship with an herbarium willing to hold documented vouchers from NAPCC collections.
2) Jointly committing to an accepted reference for Magnolia nomenclature so that there is a standardized consistency of nomenclature amongst the participants in the consortium.
3) Convening as a group for the first time at the APGA national
meeting in June of 2012 in Columbus, Ohio.
4) Compiling data into a single and searchable database and performing annual updates of this database.
5) Conducting gap analysis to prioritize missing taxa that should be
added to the consortium’s collection.
6) Developing a relationship with the Magnolia Society International and writing one article per year for the MSI Journal.
7) Developing protocols for an organized system of requesting and
sharing seed and plant material between institutions in the consortium.
8) Developing Google Group for communications purposes and
sharing documents.
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Magnolia
9) Developing and implementing an annual survey on the member’s
magnolia-related activities.
Five-year goals for the consortium include:
1) Developing a system for both participating and non-participating institutions to have access to germplasm of the consortium’s
target species for ex situ conservation.
2) Acquiring 25% of all IUCN Red List Magnolias in NAPCC Magnolia Group collection.
3) Developing a list of all Red List magnolias that should be held
in NAPCC collections.
4) Increasing the number of institutions growing Red List taxa in
their collections.
5) Increasing the quantity of plants of Red List taxa grown in institutions (preferably increasing the number of plants representing different provenances to increase the genetic diversity being
conserved ex situ for a given taxon).
6) Promoting an increased exchange of plant material and connecting with other institutions (herbaria and/or universities
conducting field research or collecting trips related to our target species) that may be able to provided wild-collected seed
of Red List taxa through their own conservation and research
activities.
7) Developing relationships with botanic gardens in areas of species diversity; i. e., South China Botanical Garden to acquire
Chinese species.
8) Conducting gap analysis to prioritize threatened populations.
9) Increasing herbarium documentation by vouchering a flowering specimen of all accessions of wild origin and depositing in
an herbarium(a) and voucher 25% of fruiting specimens of accessions of wild origin.
Gary Knox, Vice-President of MSI (Photo by Sue Hamilton)
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10) Photo-documenting all taxa, including cultivars.
11) Regarding cultivars:
a. Identifying which cultivars are rare and not available in
the trade anymore.
b. Developing tools for assessing the need to preserve
cultivars for future breeding programs.
c. Developing protocols for evaluating cultivars best suited
for different climatic areas of North America; i. e., Powell
Gardens-lower Midwest climate.
d. Providing resources for people and institutions doing hybridization work.
Conclusion
The NAPCC Magnolia Group has provided the framework for a project
that is currently being developed by the Magnolia Society International.
The MSI has taken the model of the NAPCC multi-institution collection to
embark on a global conservation project for Magnolias, The Global Consortium for the Ex Situ Conservation of Magnolias. Over the next year
this consortium will seek global partners and enlist botanic gardens from
around the world to hold the ex situ collections of magnolia with an emphasis on IUCN Red List magnolias. The work of the NAPCC Magnolia
Group will play a key role in the development of this global consortium.
The goals for the NAPCC Magnolia Group are robust. However, the consortium represents many of the very best botanical institutions through-
Magnolias at Swarthmore (Photo from Scott Arboretum)
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Magnolia
out North America. At the writing of this article the consortium is also
working on recruiting both The Huntington Botanical Gardens and Library in San Marino, California, and the United States National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. Without doubt, this group will become stronger
over time and have more capacity to follow through on the goals of the
consortium.
Pink blooms of Magnolia sprengeri var. diva (left) eclipse those of M. dawsoniana (left,
background), while the white flowers of M. doltsopa (center) punctuate the fog at San
Francisco Botanical Garden. (Photo by David Kruse-Pickler)
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