Georgia aster is a rare wildflower native to the piedmont of North and South Carolina, and candidate for inclusion on the endangered species list. A project is currently underway to collect seeds from these plants, both for genetic study, safeguarding, and potential, captive rearing for eventual outplanting.

Although they’re all Georgia asters, the genetics research may reveal minute differences between populations. Should botanists reach a point when they’re ready to augment wild populations with greenhouse-raised plants, or need to transplant wild plants, the genetic information will help ensure they put them in places with plants of similar genes, protecting those small differences between populations.

In November, 2012, botanists from the Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the North Carolina Botanical Garden travelled the North Carolina piedmont collecting seeds from known populations. The seeds will be x-rayed, which will showing botanists how developed the seed is, thus helping scientists determine the best time to collect seeds. Collected seeds that aren’t used for the genetics research will be preserved while others may be used for captive rearing, with those plants eventually being planted in the wild.

Credit: Gary Peeples/USFWS