NKUA Seed Bank

Cephalanthera cucullata is an endemic orchid of Greece, which can be found only in few locations on the mountains and gorges of the island of Crete. The species is currently characterised as vulnerable (VU) by the IUCN red list and endangered (EN) by the national red data book of threatened plant species. Its seeds belong to the microseed group with lengths spaning from 0.7 to 1.3 mm. Several experiments have been performed without significant results for the ex situ germination of the species, which proves for once more that the genus Cephalanthera is one of the hardest in the family Orchidaceae regarding its germination.

Currently in our Seed Bank 6 lots are being preserved both in freezers and fridges with at least two of them having viable seeds but the precise determination of the viability is until now hard.

During the years 2004-2007 in the framework of CRETAPLANT LIFE project the in situ conservation of the species in a fenced Plant Micro-Reserve have been performed. Since then the ongoing monitoring of the population of the Micro-Reserve showed significant increase to the number of the individuals.