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<p>Seeds from several orchid taxa are reported as orthodox; nevertheless, the belief persists that they are short-lived under conventional storage (-20&#xa0;°C, 15% RH). Previous reports on orchid seed viability and storage behaviour occasionally fail to report initial viability percentages at the time of collection, frequently assuming high initial viability. This study investigates the storage behaviour of 30 terrestrial orchid taxa from Greece, represented by 37 seed lots (2019–2022). Initial viability, tested via TTC/TB double-staining, showed significant variability (1.5% to 94.4%). Crucially, profound intraspecific variation was recorded. Inter-annual collections from the same individuals yielded significantly different viabilities for <i>Neotinea maculata</i> (11.8% vs. 92.5%) and <i>N. lactea</i> (74.8% vs. 60.6%). Capsule maturity also strongly impacted initial quality; immature seeds of <i>Ophrys sphegodes</i> subsp. <i>aesculapii</i> and <i>O. ferrum-equinum</i> subsp. <i>ferrum-equinum</i> demonstrated much lower viability (28.5% and 32.8%) compared to fully mature seeds from the same populations (66.7% and 65.5%). Most collections (64.8%) exhibited initial viability &gt; 50%, while only two recorded viabilities &lt; 10% (<i>Limodorum abortivum</i>, <i>Himantoglossum robertianum</i>). After 2.7–6 years of storage at 4&#xa0;°C, follow-up testing showed minor drops in absolute viability (0.5–9.7%) for the majority (75.6%) and moderate loss (10.6–21.1%) for eight seed lots. Only <i>Cephalanthera damasonium</i> experienced high viability loss (71.1%). Based on our results, 97.3% of the tested taxa can be stored for at least 3–6 years without significant viability loss.</p>

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Tipping the ex situ orchid seed conservation scale: successful medium-term seed storage of 30 terrestrial orchids

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月25日

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  • Spyridon Oikonomidis,
  • Costas A. Thanos

摘要

Seeds from several orchid taxa are reported as orthodox; nevertheless, the belief persists that they are short-lived under conventional storage (-20 °C, 15% RH). Previous reports on orchid seed viability and storage behaviour occasionally fail to report initial viability percentages at the time of collection, frequently assuming high initial viability. This study investigates the storage behaviour of 30 terrestrial orchid taxa from Greece, represented by 37 seed lots (2019–2022). Initial viability, tested via TTC/TB double-staining, showed significant variability (1.5% to 94.4%). Crucially, profound intraspecific variation was recorded. Inter-annual collections from the same individuals yielded significantly different viabilities for Neotinea maculata (11.8% vs. 92.5%) and N. lactea (74.8% vs. 60.6%). Capsule maturity also strongly impacted initial quality; immature seeds of Ophrys sphegodes subsp. aesculapii and O. ferrum-equinum subsp. ferrum-equinum demonstrated much lower viability (28.5% and 32.8%) compared to fully mature seeds from the same populations (66.7% and 65.5%). Most collections (64.8%) exhibited initial viability > 50%, while only two recorded viabilities < 10% (Limodorum abortivum, Himantoglossum robertianum). After 2.7–6 years of storage at 4 °C, follow-up testing showed minor drops in absolute viability (0.5–9.7%) for the majority (75.6%) and moderate loss (10.6–21.1%) for eight seed lots. Only Cephalanthera damasonium experienced high viability loss (71.1%). Based on our results, 97.3% of the tested taxa can be stored for at least 3–6 years without significant viability loss.