agronomy Article The Ex Situ Conservation and Potential Usage of Crop Wild Relatives in Poland on the Example of Grasses Denise F. Dostatny 1,* , Grzegorz Zurek˙ 2 , Adam Kapler 3 and Wiesław Podyma 1 1 National Centre for Plant Genetic Resources, Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute—NRI, Radzików, 05-870 Błonie, Poland;
[email protected] 2 Department of Grasses, Legumes and Energy Plants, Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute—NRI, Radzików, 05-870 Błonie, Poland;
[email protected] 3 Polish Academy of Sciences, Botanical Garden in Powsin, Prawdziwka 2, 02-973 Warsaw, Poland;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: The Poaceae is the second most abundant family among crop wild relatives in Poland, representing 147 taxa. From these species, 135 are native taxa, and 11 are archeophytes. In addition, one taxon is now considered to be extinct. Among the 147 taxa, 8 are endemic species. Central Europe, including Poland, does not have many endemic species. Only a few dozen endemic species have been identified in this paper, mainly in the Carpathians and the adjacent uplands, e.g., the Polish Jura in southern Poland. The most numerous genera among the 32 present in the crop wild relatives (CWR) of Poaceae family are: The genus Festuca (33 species), Poa (19), and Bromus (11). In turn, ten genera are represented by only one species per genus. A good representative of groups of grasses occur in xerothermic grasslands, and other smaller groups can be found in forests, mountains, or dunes. CWR species from the Poaceae family have the potential for different uses in terms of the ecosystem services benefit.