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Figure 1. Handing of specimens to the Environment and Resources Authority.

Following the release of Cyperus distachyos and Iris pseudacorus in appropriate natural habitats in Malta and Gozo, the Argotti Botanic Gardens & Resource Centre (ABGRC) has attained another goal in further disseminating rare protected species to aid in their preservation with the aim of enhancing the biodiversity of the Maltese Islands.  

In collaboration with the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), the team at ABGRC has successfully germinated the Red Data Book species Silene fruticose (Lsien l-Għasfur tal-Blat) and Pancratium maritimum (Pankrazju). Silene fruticosa is currently only present in two small pockets of Gozo while Pancratium maritimum inhabits the fast disappearing sand dunes. Seeds provided by ERA were cultivated with the scope of introducing them into the wild. Some 97 Pots of Silene fruticosa and 64 pots of Pancratium maritimum were provided for relocation in 3 sites in Malta and a further 2 in Gozo. (Figure 1)

 

ABGRC also obtained and distributed seeds of the exploited and declining Adonis microcarpa (Għajn is-Serduq). These seeds were provided to Ambjent Malta and the Rural Gozo Directorate for the scope of future conservation. 

Erika Puglisevich, an ABGRC staff member, has been successful in the propagation of the last recorded surviving specimen of Polygonum equisetiforme in the Maltese Islands, whose origin was reported by Lanfranco (1971) to be from Manoel Island. The original population was unfortunately destroyed due to development.