The Heliconia Society International (HSI) oversees a world-wide network of conservation centers that aim to provide safe repositories for the maintenance of carefully labeled and documented living collections of heliconias, gingers, bananas, and other member of the botanical order Zingiberales. Each of these ten centers, usually a botanical garden, serves as a conservation gene bank for Zingiberales species, varieties, and cultivars, thus maintaining living collections for scientific research and horticultural investigations. Local growing conditions and species conserved at each center are unique. The National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) has served as a conservation center since 1986. An overview of the various centers will be given, with emphasis on NTBG. Some of the problems faced by conservation centers, and the protocols on the exchange of plant material to prevent unwanted pests and diseases will be discussed.

This presentation is suitable for beginner to intermediate heliconia growers.

Dr. David Lorence joins us from National Tropical Botanical Garden in Hawaii.

Dr. David Lorence is Director of Science and holds the Chair of Botany at the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) in Hawaii. His research specialties are vascular plant systematics, especially the Rubiaceae family, and Pacific island floristics. He has served on the board of the HSI since 1999 and is curator of NTBG’s Zingiberales collections.