Martin Gardner, coordinator of the International Conifer Conservation Programme (ICCP) of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) visited Montgomery Botanical Center (MBC) with RBGE
Torreya taxifolia and Taxus floridana.
glasshouse supervisor Fiona Inches. While here, they studied several native U.S. conifer habitats in the southeast including Torreya State Park, home of the critically endangered
The visit was part of ongoing collaborative efforts among RBGE, MBC, and Atlanta Botanical Garden (ABG) to further conservation of warm climate conifers. Last October, Chad Husby, MBC collections manager, and Ron Determann of ABG traveled to Edinburgh to exchange tropical conifer propagating material. That project was funded by a USDA Germplasm Exchange grant.
While at MBC, Martin Gardner presented a seminar on the tropical conifer conservation work of RBGE’s International Conservation Programme. He shared photos and information about the ICCP’s efforts to improve the conservation status of threatened conifers, including extensive work in New Caledonia, Vietnam, and Chile.