proteas With Altitude

Annual report May 2018 – April 2019 Robbie Blackhall-Miles and Ben Ram

Abstract This report aims to show how the ‘proteas With Altitude’ project progressed over During 2018. It is an opportunity to review the ongoing process of setting up the nursery site, analyse data gathered about the species grown and set aims for the year ahead.

Background ‘proteas With Altitude’ is an ongoing research project studying the horticulture of Proteaceae in the UK. In 2015, an initial expedition was undertaken to study in-situ plants and collect seeds of Proteaceae, growing at high altitude, in the Western Cape of South Africa. One hundred and fifteen separate observations covering fifty-five distinct species were made, of which thirty species were collected as seed. A further collecting trip was made during December 2017 with 43 species being collected as seed, of which 16 were new to us and 6 new to cultivation, and plants and cuttings of some species being imported under phytosanitary certificate. A full report detailing progress up to the beginning of 2018 can be found in the 2016 and 2017 annual reports. This report will discuss the period between May 2018 – April 2019.

Nursery Infrastructure A new irrigation system was partially installed during the summer of 2018. At present this consists of micro soaker-hose irrigation lines to the 1L pots on half of the bench in the polytunnel. This is working well, and we intend to install further such lines during 2019. Additionally, drip irrigation lines were installed in the area used to stand out the large potted plants during the summer months. This area is split into three rows, only one of which has had irrigation installed. There was a low water pressure issue which meant that the entire irrigation system could not be run at the same time without installing a costly pump. The row of drip irrigation was split into two halves, each of which could be run separately. Also, the polytunnel irrigation was run separately. These issues will be of importance to resolve if we succeed in installing drip irrigation to the other two rows of large potted plants. Installing an irrigation system proved timely since the summer of 2018 was both long and hot, which meant time saved watering. We decided against combining fertigation with the irrigation system and instead have continued to do this manually and in the same manner.

A new trial bed for Proteaceae was created at the nursery during the summer of 2018, which has allowed us to plant out many of the plants in 1L pots as well as several more mature specimens. A range of other Fynbos species were planted alongside the Proteaceae. We are in the process of creating another trial bed for Proteaceae which should be ready for planting by the time the risk of frost is over.

A sand bed and cold frame for the cultivation of dwarf bearded and Oncocyclus Iris was also installed. Sales of these plants have assisted the finance of the nursery. We will also be looking to increase our range of bearded iris to secure longer term financial security for the wider project.

Budget During the period April 2018 to April 2019 Outgoings Rent £480 Electricity £72.84 Sundries £1730.83 Irrigation £180.66 Total Expenditure £2464.33 Donations £10 Royal Horticultural Society bursary prize £500 Plant sales £998.55 Total income £1508.55

Personal investment £955.78

Germination and mortality At the date of the production of this report germination for the 2019 season was well underway and will be reported on in the 2019 report. The emphasis for the 2019 season is on species whose seeds are distributed by ants (Myrmecochory) such as Leucospermum spp., Spatalla spp., Serruria spp., Mimetes spp., Paranomus spp. and Sorocephalus spp. Historically, Proteaceae species that rely on myrmecochory have proven difficult to germinate. Most of the published information regarding germination has been obtained by experimenting with Leucospermum spp. seeds. The other genera do sometimes germinate using these methods but germiantion rates tend to be lower and sometimes non-existant. Seeds of Mimetes spp. and Paranomus spp. are very similar to those of Leucospermum spp. morphologically, having an eliasome that surrounds the seed. The morphology of Spatalla spp. and some Sorocephalus spp. seeds, however, is quite different. The eliasome in these genera is only found at one end of the seed. The seeds of Spatalla spp. are also considerably smaller and are hairy. Having spoken to Louise Nurrish, previously Proteaceae horticulturist at Kirstenbosch National Botanic Garden, South Africa, it seems she had some success with Spatalla spp. using a similar method to Serruria spp., however published methods for germinating Serruria spp. give little information and also warn that germination rates are low.

The method which has shown to work best for Leucospermum conocarpodendron is:

1. Remove the eliasome and scratch off the next secondary seed coat.

2. Heat the dry seeds using an incandesent lamp in a wooden box to between 40C and 60C for between 15 mins and 1 hour and then immediately put in room temperature (18C) water.

3. Soak seeds for 24 hours in H2O2 and either smoke water or GA3 for 24 hours.

4. Sow on moist fine bark and give day night temperature fluctuation of 5C-20C.

In previous years we have used 12 hours at 20C and 12 hours at 5C but this year we will try using 16 hours at 20C and 8 hours at 5C. If this fails we intend on reversing the times so that it is 16 hours at 5C and 8 hours at 20C. South African horticulturist, Robbie Thomas has had success with 14 hours at 6C and 10 hours at 26C. We may try this in the future. It should be noted that trials with hot water rather than dry heat (DH) work less effectively. Trials with hot water on Mimetes arboreous, M argenteus, M. capitulatus, M. chrysanthus, M. pauciflorus, M. stokoei, Orothamnus zeyheri only resulted in germination of 1 M. pauciflorus seed, which subsequently died. It should also be noted that the best germination batch of Leucospermum conocarpodendron was heated to 40C for one hour and soaked in smoke and H202 for 48 hours. Many seeds practically exploded when they were dropped into the smoke water and were assumed to have been destroyed, as the embryo was exposed, but actually 7 of 11 seeds germinated, including the exploded seeds.

A trial with M. arboreus where 13 seeds sank and one floated had 60C DH for 10 mins and then 40C DH for 30mins and only smoke water for 24 hrs was used. This resulted in 3 seeds germinating. Two of these are now 2 years old and just over a foot tall.

For Leucospermum winteri, which has considerably smaller seeds than L. conocarpodendron, DH to 45C for 15 mins and using GA3 and smoke water (not H2O2), seems to be working (>25% germination rate) with germination already having taken place just 25 days after sowing. A full update on this will be found in the 2019/20 report.

We have not yet managed to germinate Spatalla, Sorocephalus, Serruria or Paranomus. Previous attempts with these genera have only used smoke water and eliasomes were not removed. For Spatalla and Sorocephalus, we are now trying the following: Remove eliasome, soak for 24 hrs in smoke water followed by 36 hours in GA3. Seed shape seems to be an indicating factor in the selection of viable Spatalla seed and this will be discussed later in this report in the section ‘Art and Science’. For Mimetes and Paranomus, we are trying: Removal of eliasome and second seed coat if there is one, 60C DH for 15 mins followed by 40C DH for 45 mins, soak in smoke and GA3 for 24 hours each.

A high proportion of species from these genera are considered threatened in the wild. It is therefor of importance for their future conservation that their germination and subsequent cultivation is better understood.

Sowing batch Number sown treatment Germination Germination rate % number RT001.01 10 50C hot water for 30 10% 1 mins, 26 hours smoke water, 24 hours h2o2 RT001.02 43 flash fried then into 0% room temp water, 24hrs smoke, 24 hrs h2o2 RT001.03 9 60C DH for 10 mins 0% 0 and 40C DH for 30mins, smoke water for 48 hrs, h2o2 for 48hrs RT001.04 11 40C DH for 1 hours, 63.63% 7 then room temp Smoke water for 48 hrs, h202 for 48 hrs.

Table1 Treatments used for germination of Leucospermum conocarpadendron. Germination rates - 2015 – 2018 inc.

Over the three-year period from winter 2015 to the end of 2018 a total of 662 seedlings across 55 species of South African Proteaceae have been germinated. Of these, the majority germinated within a period of between 12 days and 8 weeks, with the shortest period being for Leucadendron rourkei and the longest for Protea pruinosa. Just three species have exceptional times from sowing to first germination with 66 days for one sowing batch of Protea cryophila, 173 for a second sowing batch of P. cryophila and 214 days for Mimetes arboreus.

As has been published in previous reports, this data allows the sowing and germination process to become considerably more streamlined especially when considering when to remove and ‘end’ batches of un-germinated seed.

It is also important to understand the time over which seed germinates and our findings have shown that with a day/night temperature change of 15 degrees the majority of seed that germinates does so over a period of between 0 (all seed germinating on the same day) and 26 days, with this process taking up to 56 days, in only 5 cases has it taken longer. In one instance a record of the germination duration for a batch of seed took 703 days. This record was for a Protea repens batch that had been removed, after one year, from the day/night temperature facility. The batch was dried upon removal and returned to the facility after 6 months to see if further germination could be achieved, this had the result of 1 seed germinating. It is interesting to note that in this lone instance a seed was still viable and capable of germination after such a long period from first sowing and further investigation into this could be undertaken at a future date.

Mortality rates - 2015 – 2018 inc.

An understanding of expected mortality rates is equally as important for future conservation measures as that of germination and we are working towards a better understanding of the expected mortality rate of individual genera and species, and how this could be reduced.

An overall mortality rate of 48.19% is recorded for the period of the project (Table 2). A reduction in mortality has been seen annually with this dropping from 53.61% in 2016 to 35.44% in 2018 for Leucadendron and from 58.26% in 2016 to 20% for Protea during 2018. For Leucospermum, Mimetes and some other genera a small sample size and, subsequently, limited data do not allow us to assess factors that impact mortality. It is difficult to attribute this reduction in mortality to any individual change in cultivation technique and mortality rates may be impacted by factors such as the range of species being cultivated within a given year.

Sum of Number Germinated Total Mortality Count Mortality Rate Leucadendron 295 144 48.81% 2015 3 3 100.00% 2016 166 89 53.61% 2017 47 24 51.06% 2018 79 28 35.44% Leucospermum 10 5 50.00% 2016 1 0 0.00% 2017 9 5 55.56% Mimetes 6 5 83.33% 2016 6 5 83.33% Protea 351 165 47.01% 2015 53 32 60.38% 2016 115 67 58.26% 2017 83 46 55.42% 2018 100 20 20.00% Grand Total 662 319 48.19% Table 2 Proteaceae mortality rates during 2015 – 2018 inc. by genus

Mortality is currently recorded generally with no distinction made between seedling mortality and that of more mature plants. By defining a seedling as a plant less than one year old, an understanding of seedling mortality can be gained, see Table 3.

Sum of Number Number Died Within One Year Mortality Germinated Year Rate Leucadendron 295 121 41.02% 2015 3 3 100.00% 2016 166 73 43.98% 2017 47 17 36.17% 2018 79 28 35.44% Leucospermum 10 4 40.00% 2016 1 0 0.00% 2017 9 4 44.44% Mimetes 6 4 66.67% 2016 6 4 66.67% Protea 351 143 40.74% 2015 53 29 54.72% 2016 115 52 45.22% 2017 83 42 50.60% 2018 100 20 20.00% Grand Total 662 272 41.09% Table 3 Mortality rates within one year of germination

A seedling mortality rate of 41.09% is considerably higher than published estimates of wild seedling mortality during their first summer, for South African Proteaceae, which is approximately 7% (Midgley, J. 1988). This may be due to the length of time between germination and mortality assessment. In the wild, a seedling is likely to germinate in the autumn, and so could have experienced 9 months since germination, by the onset of the harsh summer conditions. In our cultivation trials, seedlings are germinated in the spring and by 9 months are experiencing our harsher season, being winter. Only 7.1% of all individuals died as plants older than one year from germination. The biggest overall reduction in seedling mortality between 2015 and 2018 can be seen in Protea although this was not a consistent reduction over the period. Leucadendron also saw a reduction during the period 2015 to 2018 although this reduction of 8.54% (not including data from just 3 seedlings during 2015) is not significant enough to make any major conclusions.

It is hoped that further reduction in seedling mortality rates can be achieved in future years.

It is intended that future mortality will be recorded differently in order to gain a better understanding of the cause of death and the period after germination in which mortality occurred.

Mortality rates alone cannot allow us to better understand if cultivation changes that have been made have had any significant impact. A range of dedicated experiments would need to be utilised in order to better understand the impacts of these changes.

Cultivation Having found that our standard compost mix of 25% washed sharp sand, 25% horticultural grit, 25% 5mm pumice and 25% high grade (Melcourt) fine composted pine bark was too free draining we decided to make a big change during 2018. We have worked with Melcourt ltd to create a custom peat free compost mix that could be used instead of pure composted fine bark.

This ‘Fossilplants mix 2’ is a combination of composted fine pine bark, ‘Sylvafibre’ and Coir and contains a wetting agent. The pH is around 5.8 and the air-filled porosity of 21%, it also contains

0.5kg of Kieserite (MgSO4·H2O) and 0.7kg of Calcium Nitrate (Ca(NO3)2) per cubic metre. We have continued to add a range of supplements to the compost mix in the form of Dried blood, Iron Sulphate, Potassium Sulphate, Ground seaweed meal and a proprietary micronutrient feed.

During 2018 the phosphorous needs of the Proteaceae and the impact of this on the health of our plants led us to do further research into the subject (DELGADO, M., et al. 2014). After discussion with Kevin and Kathy Collins of Banksia Farm, Western Australia we conducted a trial where we fed several plants of Leucadendron spissifolium and L. salignum with varying levels of a strawberry fertiliser (NPK: 4:2:6). This trial proved to have no ill effect on the plants and has led to positive results over the course of the 2018/19 growing season. It has been decided that we would start adding a slow release fertiliser to our main potting compost. Nitrophoska Perfect© was chosen on recommendation by K & K Collins. Nitrophoska Perfect© is an NPK fertiliser - breakdown shown below.

Nitrophoska Perfect© chemical analysis

Another nutrient source that we will be trialling over the coming year is a volcanic rock called Scoria. Some members of the Proteaceae are found growing on mineral rich basaltic or volcanic soils. Scoria can contain high levels of Silicon dioxide, Aluminium oxide, Iron oxide, Magnesium oxide, Calcium oxide, Potassium oxide, Sulphur trioxide and Diphosphorus Dioxide (ÖZVAN, A. et al. 2012). It is hoped that the addition of mineral rich scoria may improve growth for several species.

Updates on these nutrient trials will be provided in future reports. The Plants Rourke’s conebush (Leucadendron rourkei)

Leucadendron rourkei ©Ben Ram

John Rourke, L. rourkei’s namesake, described this species as “the ugliest, most scruffy species in the genus”. Seed of Leucadendron rourkei was collected at its type locality in the mountains of the Kammanassie at an altitude of 1400m during our 2017 expedition. We were joined on this 3-day trip to the Kammanassie mountains by Diane Turner and Peter Thompson of the OUTRAMPS CREW (Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers) group who assisted us with identifying the area that the plants grow in. Although considered Least Concern on the Red List of South African plants, due to the entirety of its population being found within designated nature conservation areas, with a small distribution and a fairly high altitudinal range, it was a target species for us. This species is currently held in the Millennium Seed Bank however, until our collection and its subsequent germination, it had never been cultivated ex-situ. This species surpassed all expectations with a 100% germination rate within just 12 days of sowing – the quickest Proteaceae species to germinate so far. Unfortunately, a 55% mortality rate within a short period of germination has meant that the successful propagation of this species is still within the parameters of Proteaceae survival in cultivation. Subsequently seedlings have grown well at the nursery and have formed many branched small plants quickly.

Frosted Sugarbush (Protea pruinosa)

Protea pruinosa © Di Turner under Creative commons, some rights reserved https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/16041018

First discovered in 1951 by Elsie Esterhuysen, Protea pruinosa has never been common and populations rarely consist of more than a couple of dozen individuals. It is the only member of the Paracynaroides subgenus (and the South African Proteaceae) to occur exclusively within the altimontain fynbos vegetation type - a rare vegetation type found above 1800m in altitude. This species is assessed by the Red List of South African plants as Endangered with the justification ‘Extent of occurrence (EOO) 368 km², Area of occupancy (AOO) 26 km², the number of mature individuals at four known locations continue to decline for unknown reasons. This species is possibly threatened by too frequent fire and sensitivity to drought’ (REBELO, A.G. et al, 2017)

It inhabits Swartberg Altimontane Sandstone Fynbos where it is found growing in rocky areas on peaks and ridges at around 2000 m.

Seed of this species was made available to us by Silver Hill Seeds during 2017 and the opportunity was taken to bring this species into cultivation here. It has been grown at Kirstenbosch and until 1980 had proven one of the more accommodating snow proteas to cultivate (Rourke, J. P., 1980). We have no current data regarding the cultivation of this species in South Africa (PLANT SEARCH, 2017).

Germination took place after 56 days and over a long period of time (77 days) with a 50% germination rate. Mortality was high (40%) but the surviving seedlings have grown steadily with one being trialled outside and surviving a winter minimum temperature of -5.2°C with no damage.

Riversdale Pincushion (Leucospermum winteri)

Leucospermum winteri ©Ben Ram

After a failed search for this species in 2015 we were pleased to be able to collect seed of it in 2017. After a gruelling walk into the Kristalkloof valley where the lower altitude population of L. winteri grows - we found a small population of aging plants on a ridge along the top of one of the interlocking spurs of the valley.

The species seems to have a bimodal distribution and whilst the type locality is described as ‘a few of the higher peaks of the Langeberg range… between 1100 and 1300m’ our seed collection was made at 466m ASL and all modern records have been made at similar altitudes.

Whilst we know that plants of this species are, or have historically been, grown at Kirstenbosch no further information is known about the status of these plants (PLANT SEARCH, 2017) and it is believed that they were grown from cuttings. Investigations have shown that there is no literature regarding this species having been grown from seed and recent enquiries as to whether this species has ever been cultivated from seed have had no affirmative responses.

L. winteri is assessed as Near Threatened with an AOO 68 km², and its 10 subpopulations potentially threatened by afforestation and alien plant invasion.

At the time of writing a >25% germination rate for this species has been achieved, with the first seedlings starting to grow true leaves at the time of publication of this report.

Radal enano (Orites myrtoideus)

Orites myrtoideus (Poepp. & Endl.) Engl. (Nickrent et al., 2006–). Photo: P. Pelser (Phytoimages,

Whilst not a member of the South African Proteaceae, our work with this Chilean species is relevant here due to the president which it has set for the wider ‘proteas With Altitude’ project.

During 2017 seed of this species was acquired to allow a better understanding of its germination and subsequent cultivation.

Not yet formally assessed by the IUCN, O. myrtoideus has a provisional threat status of Endangered due to the impact of hydroelectric power schemes and road building. This species has historically proven difficult and previous attempts to bring it into cultivation have mostly failed. A better understanding of its germination and cultivation had been advised before any ex situ, restoration or translocation conservation initiative could be undertaken for this species.

Between 2017 and 2018 we undertook a series of informal experiments to better understand the horticultural requirements of O. myrtoideus which resulted in the publication of a cultivation protocol in the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh’s horticultural journal ‘Sibbaldia’. The publication of such protocols should be the result of the work we undertake with each of the species we cultivate as part of the ‘proteas With Altitude’ project and should be one of the primary key performance indicators for the project in the long term.

The paper ‘Cultivation of Orites myrtoideus – the first 12 months’ is available at https://journals.rbge.org.uk/index.php/rbgesib/article/view/271 Trials One of the objectives of the project is to understand the tolerances of members of the Proteaceae to the UK climate. This will allow us to understand if we are in a better position to conserve the higher altitude members of the protea family ex-situ than the low altitude botanic gardens of South Africa. Historically, climate parameters have meant that gardens such as SANBI’s Kirstenbosch have had little long-term success with high altitude growing species such as Protea holoceracea, Protea stokoei, Protea rupicola and Protea cryophila. (HITCHCOCK. A., pers. coms.)

During 2018 a second raised bed was built at the nursery to trial growing a range of South African Proteaceae species outside in North Wales. The bed was made from new railway sleepers and contains a compost mix consisting of fine composted bark, sharp sand and pea gravel.

Several plants grown from across the 2015 and 2017 South African seed collections, as well as species collected by Rod and Rachel Saunders of Silverhill seeds and a range of species sourced from other collections and nurseries, were planted out. Alongside the Proteaceae were planted a range of other fynbos species including Albuca spp, Kniphofia spp, Erica spp, Gladiolus spp, Watsonia spp and several Fabaceae spp.

2018 was a year of extremes climatically with the months of April, May and June seeing less than 30mm of precipitation in total and summer temperatures reaching over 33°C. September saw over 100mm of precipitation and over the course of the 2018/19 winter the temperature at the nursery site dropped to -5.2°C at its lowest.

The negative impacts of these conditions are listed below.

Nursery trial beds

Protea suzannae (Penberth Plants) – severely damaged by -5.2°C

Protea magnifica RT006.01.16 – Died during winter 2018/19

Protea sulphurea RT008.01.01– Struggled during the summer due to issues caused by being covered by a large Lobelia plant subsequently died during the winter.

Protea grandiceps – BMR15026.01.02 Died, this is attributed to a long-standing issue with its stem

Protea montana BMR15047.01.04 – badly effected by -5.2°C

Llanberis garden

Leucadendron radiatum BMR15029.02.05 - died during the Autumn 2018 this is attributed to a combination of high summer temperatures and an overly shaded position in the garden. A plant from the same collection at the nursery, in a more exposed position, is healthy. The Llanberis garden winter minimum temperature was -1.6C.

The impacts of the weather conditions during winter 2018/19 have been noted and provide good information of the temperature tolerance of many of the species trialled.

Distribution of Plants to other Collections During the course of the 2018 – 2019 period, plants from the collection have been distributed to other botanic gardens and public collections under a loan arrangement within strict material transfer protocols. The distribution of this material serves two purposes; the long-term security for our collections and a better understanding of the climatic tolerances of species.

As part of its new African Veld display, The Eden Project will be participating in the ‘Proteas with altitude’ project. Their African Veld exhibit aims to be one of the biggest outside displays of South African plants in the UK. The resulting exhibit will be a vibrant garden that celebrates the huge diversity and beauty of this region’s flora – whilst also drawing attention to its fragility.

‘A veld is a South African landscape.’ Florence Mainsbridge (horticultural lead on the exhibit) explains, "We have deliberately kept an open name, as this gives us scope to pick and choose a variety of the region's plants which should thrive in the Cornish climate".

Florence and, Eden’s plant records officer, Lorna MacKinnon, visited FossilPlants to learn more about the proteas with Altitude project, to collect a range of plants and to better understand the care requirements of the family.

Once at Eden the plants will have to undergo a short period of quarantine before they find their way into the main gardens.

With over 1 million visitors a year visiting Eden the opportunity to have our plants on display at the tourist attraction was too good an opportunity to miss and will mean that the message of South Africa’s huge plant diversity and the threats it faces will have a much larger voice.

A plant of Leucadendron spissifolium ssp. fragrans has also been sent to the Yorkshire Arboretum at Castle Howard, near York. For us this is one of the more interesting trial sites as part of the proteas with Altitude project. North Yorkshire sees regular extended periods of cold during the winter and this should prove quite a test for any member of the Proteaceae. Leucadendron spissifolium has shown itself to be a tough species in our trial beds and Proteaceae plants at Eden's quarantine facility under strict instructions. thus we felt it was a good subject for trial in Yorkshire.

The University of Liverpool’s Ness Botanic Gardens is currently in the process of transforming what was once its heather garden into a Mediterranean climate zone garden and came to us wishing to feature members of the Proteaceae from the Western Cape in this new area. With a moderate, dry climate Ness is known for being able to grow a range of tender shrubs and with its acid soils and south facing slope it was felt that this would prove another ideal trial site for the project. Initially plants of Leucadendron spissifolium ssp. spissifolium, L. gandogeri, L. strobilinum and L. conicum will be trialled at Ness.

Art and Science

During 2018 FossilPlants collaborated with artist Raji Salan to produce a series of images of Proteaceae seed. Raji’s work (https://rajisalan.wixsite.com/underthreat aimed to look at seeds and their struggles in a world under constant human conflict. Asking the question ‘What do we perceive as a threat and what is under threat?’

The remarkable double and quadruple helix structure of the seed hairs of the genus Protea

The exhibition used a selection of seeds from across four Proteaceae genera alongside seed of, critically endangered, Iris atropurpurea to focus attention on a profound narrative about the fragility and resilience of nature, and the power of scientific instruments to reveal as-yet-unseen clues about ecology, evolution and threat.

The seeds were explored through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images and audio commentaries, sharing what is known about these seeds and their connections to wider issues of geopolitics, climate change, ecology crisis, urbanisation, economic and political conflicts, and their threatened status because of these.

Observing and recording these seeds via SEM technology suggested further questions about what scientific images reveal to us and what they fail to show, and the contribution of an artistic perspective to unlocking new scientific knowledge.

A SEM image of a Mimetes seed showing the secondary seed coat and the almost flawless inner seed coat. ©Raji Salan

The images posed further questions regarding the morphology and ecology of the individual plant species and most notably they highlighted a correlation between seed morphology and seed viability in the genus Spatalla.

This information is already informing seed choice for germination experiments for this little understood genus.

Left - Spatalla seeds showing the difference between the ovoid shape of viable seed (right of picture) and the clearly hollow, acute, inviable seed (left of picture), Right - a viable Spatalla seed clearly showing its eliasome at the top and a lack of external seed coat as would be found in Mimetes, Paranomus and Leucadendron ©Raji Salan

Conclusion

Future Plans As the project heads into its 4th year we plan to direct our attention to further understanding of the Myrmecochorous species within the Proteaceae. With germination trials underway for several genera across a number of species and already showing some interesting results.

Full cultivation protocols are planned for the snow proteas; Protea subgenus Paracynaroides, and Leucadendron rourkei.

Increased rain water storage is planned so that the nursery is less reliant on tap water and the irrigation system will be extended to all the summer standing out areas for potted plants.

Due to a unknown problem with the weather station, weather data has not been gathered for the months of February, March and April 2019 and it is intended that a new, prefessional weather station be installed should funds become available.

Thanks The whole project would not have been possible without the help of the 64 backers of the crowdfunding project, the Stanley Smith (UK) Horticultural Trust, a generous private donation and a bursary, via Plant Heritage, from Brother UK Ltd.

Special thanks to Martin Smit (Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam), Cherise Viljoen (Kirstenbosch), Rupert Koopman, Robbie and Vicki Thomas, Kevin and Kathy Collins (Banksia Farm), Bob Stevens, Ondine Schrick and Anthony Hitchcock (Silverhill Seeds), Cape Nature, BGCI, MSBP, Outramps CREW and identifiers on the INaturalist website, The RHS, The Scottish Rock Garden Club and the horticultural teams at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Edinburgh – with particular thanks to Martin Gardner (RBGE) and Richard Bains (Logan Botanic Garden).

Thanks also to Raji Salan, Liverpool John Moores University Faculty of Sciences staff and specialist electron microscopy technician Paul Gibbons.

References

CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY (CBD), 2012. Global Strategy for Plant Conservation: 2011- 2020. Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Richmond, UK

DUNCAN, G., BROWN, N., NURISH, L., THOMAS, R, 2013. Grow Proteas. A Guide to the Cultivation and Propagation of South African Proteaceae.

DELGADO, M., SURIYAGODA, L., ZÚÑIGA-FEEST, A., BORIE, F. AND LAMBERS, H. (2014) Divergent functioning of Proteaceae species: The South American Embothrium coccineum displays a combination of adaptive traits to survive in high-phosphorus soils. Functional Ecology Vol: 28, Pages: 1356–1366

HITCHCOCK, A. 2015 – 2018. Personal communication

IUCN SPECIES SURVIVAL COMMISSION, 2014, Guidelines on the Use of Ex Situ Management for Species Conservation, version 2.0.

MILLENIUM SEED BANK PARTNERSHIP (MSBP) DATA WAREHOUSE, available online at http://brahmsonline.kew.org/msbp (accessed February 2018)

MIDGLEY, J. (1988). Mortality of Cape Proteaceae Seedlings During their First Summer. South African Forestry Journal. 145. 10.1080/00382167.1988.9630328.

ÖZVAN, ALI & TAPAN, MUCIP & ERIK, O & EFE, T & DEPCI, T. (2012). Compressive Strength of Scoria Added Portland Cement Concretes. Gazi University Journal of Science. 25. 769-775.

PLANT SEARCH, 2017 BGCI (Botanic Gardens Conservation International), Richmond, UK. Available from www.bgci.org/plant_search.php (Accessed February 2018)

REBELO, A.G., HELME, N.A., HOLMES, P.M., FORSHAW, C.N., RICHARDSON, S.H., RAIMONDO, D., EUSTON-BROWN, D.I.W., VICTOR, J.E., FODEN, W., EBRAHIM, I., BOMHARD, B., OLIVER, E.G.H., JOHNS, A., VAN DER VENTER, J., VAN DER WALT, R., VON WITT, C., LOW, A.B., PATERSON-JONES, C., ROURKE, J.P., HITCHCOCK, A.N., POTTER, L., VLOK, J.H. & PILLAY, D. 2006. Protea pruinosa Rourke. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version 2017.1. (Accessed January 2019)

ROURKE, J. P, 1980. The Proteas of Southern Africa. THOMAS, R. 2015 – 2018. Personal communication

A SEM image of Orothamnus zeyheri seed edited of the background noise that was captured in the original images.

©Raji Salan