Earlier in October a team from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew were in Conwy, collecting seeds from spindle and wild privet as part of The UK National Tree Seed Project – set up by Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, with funding from players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

Tree seeds collected as part of the project will be safely banked in the underground vaults of Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank – forming the UK’s first national collection of tree seeds. These can then play a vital role in conservation work to protect UK trees and woodlands, including research against pests and diseases such as ash dieback. The collections, and associated data, will be available to researchers working on solutions to tackle the many threats facing our woodlands.

With both target species occurring more frequently on soils rich in limestone or chalk, the team selected sites in and around Llandudno, including a visit to the Great Orme. Ripe seed-bearing fruits could be plucked directly from individual trees ready to be transported to the Millennium Seed Bank where scientists can then curate, monitor and attempt to germinate the banked seeds. The team also recorded GPS co-ordinates of individual trees to enable rediscovery of the mother plants in the future.

Upon arrival at the Millennium Seed Bank, the seeds are immediately removed from the covering fruit to prevent fermentation. They are then dried in a special temperature and humidity-controlled environment before being stored in the vault at –20°C. The seeds should remain viable for many decades and will be available to support research and on-the-ground conservation activity.

Clare Trivedi, UK National Tree Seed Project co-ordinator at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, says, “Building up our seed collections of the nation’s favourite and most important tree species is a vital step in combating the multiplying pests and diseases which threaten to alter our landscape dramatically.”

Following the collecting trip Ian Willey, Fieldwork Officer for the UK National Tree Seed Project, said “With the help of our partners at National Botanic Gardens Wales who accompanied the trip we were able to make collections of both spindle and privet fruits. Privet proved the most challenging to collect as we found many individuals without fruit, likely due to grazing pressure and the extreme environment on the Great Orme. Assisted by a local BSBI recorder however we located fruiting individuals which although dwarfed by the conditions were fruiting well. By collecting these seeds, genetic diversity from these tough little individuals will be conserved at the Millennium Seed Bank. A great trip to a wonderful part of the UK.”

The UK National Tree Seed Project launched in 2013 with the aim of securing genetically diverse collections of UK native trees and shrubs. The target species include many which underpin the UK’s wider plant and animal diversity, as well as supporting woodland industry, tourism and recreation, such as ash, juniper, Scots pine, alder, beech, silver birch and yew. So far more than 12.5 million seeds have been collected for The UK National Tree Seed Project from over 8,000 individual trees across the UK. The project has also received more than 1000 seed collections from partners across the country.