Conservation Seed Bank and CryoBank

The Garden’s Conservation Seed Bank focuses on the collection and preservation of germplasm of targeted native imperiled plant species from the southeastern United States, Caribbean, Ecuador and its living collections.

To optimize time in storage, the Seed Bank tests viability and desiccation tolerance for all collected species.  This facility stores seeds and pollen for imperiled species restoration efforts and for in-situ and ex-situ research of threatened populations.

The Garden's Conservation CryoBank is a cryostorage facility for long-term germplasm storage of recalcitrant seeds and tissues of endangered plants.

Used for long-term storage of living tissues in a stable condition, cryopreservation uses a cryogenic freezer to maintain uniform temperatures between -140˚C to -150˚C (-220˚F to -238˚F) or storage in liquid nitrogen at -196˚C (-320.8˚F).