While some seeds appear immortal, most seeds don’t last forever—unless they’re carefully stored in seed banks or, in some cases, preserved in liquid nitrogen or as part of living collections. This is huge because many plants are under threat of disappearing forever—about 68 percent of evaluated plant species, to be exact.
Take a crash course in ‘Seed Banking 101’ with Murphy Westwood, Tree Conservation Specialist at The Morton Arboretum and Global Tree Conservation officer for Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), and Kayri Havens, director of Plant Science and Conservation at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
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