La banca del germoplasma dell’Orto Botanico di Roma

The Botanical Garden area in Rome (12 ha) presents different peculiarities: the plain area reflects the set-up of the historical garden of the Palazzo Corsini, and the area of the hill is characterised by tree Collections. Some Collections are regarded to be of higher importance, like bamboos, palms, conifers and succulents. We are carrying out a new census, expecting an eventual decrease in the number of entities with respect to the 1993 one, also to optimize the ratio between the surface area and the number of cultivated species. In this way, the genetic resources could be preserved, assolving to the educational purpose, and used also in reintroduction projects. At this end, we are carrying out projects supporting ex situ conservation, identifying priority species for collections, such as the endangered ones, by Germplasm Bank. The Botanical Garden publishes a periodic Index Seminum; actually there are a total of 800 accessions in the Seed Bank. When seeds arrive at the Botanical Garden they are cleaned, checked, placed in bell-glass containing silica gel (seed drying), vacuum unpacked and accessioned to the Seed Bank database. The accession is kept in a chamber at 4°C, and -20°C for long term conservation. Moreover, in the last year, a specific conservation project, regarding a wide range of the threatened species of the Latium flora, has been carried out to support ex situ conservation projects. The considered species are listed in the I.U.C.N. categories as critically endangered and threatened. This may give a contribution to the implementation, according to the objectives of the Conservation on Biological Diversity (CBD), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and of the Important Plant areas (IPA). We are also carrying a phenologycal database out, recording vegetative activity, flowering, fruiting and leaf fall. Germination monitoring of some of the considered species will be also performed.