Seed lists

The Pan-European seed-list search system – ebgconsortiumindexseminum

How the system works

The proposal is to utilise a simple code word – ebgconsortiumindexseminum+year – to provide a unique identifier to every on-line seed-list issued by a European garden. Thus an internet search engine can be queried for this term plus a genus or even species name, thereby making the search for a particular taxon from current seed lists a work of moments. By adding a four figure year at the end of the code word, it is hoped to avoid ‘dead’ pages building up over the years. This year should represent the year in which the list is valid, i.e. seed collected during 2008 would be in a list issued over the 2008/2009 winter, and would carry the year 2009. If successful it is hoped to roll this system out at a global level. Since no central organisation, compilation or databasing is required, there should be no costs or administration other than voluntary co-operation by participating seed-list managers over the coming years in adding the word to their on-line seed lists.

Example search for the species Chamaerops humilis, which retrieves the University of Joensuu Botanic Gardens in Finland and The Alameda, Gibraltar Botanic Gardens seed-lists for 2008.

Example search for the species Arbutus unedo, which retrieve the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin and Fota Arboretum seed-lists for 2008.

REQUIREMENTS (Download pdf version of instructions here)

1. Any garden within Europe can take part in the scheme. There are no membership requirements, registrations or costs involved. Gardens do not have to be listed on the participation list below.
2. Both wild collected and/or cultivated plants may be included.
3. Issues of the CBD, in particular those governing Access and Benefit-sharing, Material Transfer Agreements, the International Plant Exchange Network (IPEN), as well as the legal authorization to share seeds are the responsibility of individual gardens, and no garden taking part is obligated to transfer seeds to third parties if they do not wish to do so.
4. For seed collected during the calendar year 1/1/2009 to 31/12/2009, the code word will be The word must have no characters or punctuation attached at either end.
5. The word must occur at least once in every file of the on-line seed-list. The seed-list can be an HTML file, a text file or a pdf document. can be visible as a line on the screen, or hidden in an invisible (i.e. white on white) font.
6. If you wish to include your seed-list in the system, then the webpage must be linked from a home page or scientific page on your web site, otherwise the page may not be visible to internet search engines, and will not be indexed. This may be an invisible link (i.e. <a href=put name of Index Seminum page here> <span style=’text-underline:none’> &#160; &#160; </a>).
7. If you have problems with the page not being found by search engines then please submit the URL to various Search Engines, or to myself, and I will place it on the list below.
8. Please do not use the full word + year on bulletin boards, or on a ‘home page’ to the seedlist etc., since otherwise these will clutter up searches for seeds. If you need to tell people about the code word on a bulletin board, then put an underline or space into the word, i.e. “ebgconsortiumindexseminum_year” and tell people to remove this on their webpage. Alternatively, use the gif image as used above, which can be downloaded here

To date the take up on the Pan-European seed-list search system has been disappointing. In February 2008 I posted out 480 letters to Botanic Gardens throughout Europe, but so far I have found just 9 gardens on the web (see below)
It may be that:

1. Not many of the gardens have web-based Index Semina. - This is increasing rapidly
2. Gardens are anxious to keep their pages ‘Private’ - Gardens are free to state the conditions under which they will or will not exchange seeds, as well as which organisations they will exchange with.
3. Gardens do not see the value of such a system. - Until a tipping point of at least 50 gardens is reached, uptake will be slow.
4. There is confusion about what date is covered by the year “2008″ (Current year or next year). - This should be the year during which the seed list is valid. i.e. plants collected during the 2008 season will be available for sowing in the year 2009, and the seed list should therefore contain the code word .

For further information, please contact:
Matthew Jebb (Matthew.Jebb@opw.ie)
Chairman, PlantNetwork: the Plant Collections Network of Britain and Ireland.
Member of the European Botanic Gardens Consortium.

Red dots are functioning, Yellow dots are non-functioning (the code word is on a link page only)
AUSTRIA
BELGIUM
Arboretum Kalmthout vzw, Heuvel 2, 2920 Kalmthout - for 2007
National Botanic Garden of Belgium
BULGARIA
BYELORUSSIA
CROATIA
BOTANICAL GARDEN of the Faculty of Science, Zagreb – but code word missing from seedlist!
CZECH REPUBLIC
Hortus Botanicus Universitatis Masarykianae, Brno
Silva Tarouca Research Institute
DENMARK
ESTONIA
FINLAND
Helsinki Botanic garden - for 2007
University of Joensuu - for 2007
FRANCE
GERMANY
Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem:
Botanischer Versuchs- und Lehrgarten der Universität Regensburg
Muenster Botanic Garden
GIBRALTAR
The Alameda, Gibraltar Botanic Gardens
GREECE
HUNGARY
ICELAND
Reykjavik Botanic Garden – 2009 list
IRELAND
National Botanic Gardens of Ireland
Fota Arboretum, Co Cork
Glenveagh Castle Garden, Co Donegal
John F. Kennedy Arboretum, Co Wexford
ITALY
Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II
LATVIA
LUXEMBOURG
Arboretum Kirchberg
MALTA
MOLDOVA
NETHERLANDS
NORWAY
POLAND
Arboretum SGGW, Rogowie, Warsaw.
PORTUGAL
ROMANIA
SLOVAKIA
SLOVENIJA
University of Ljubljana
SPAIN
SWEDEN
SWITZERLAND
TURKEY
UNITED KINGDOM
University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Harcourt Arboretum
Chelsea Physic Garden, London