Amanda Wu and David Gunn from MOBOT returned
and were able to collect from the site I had missed,
and David graciously shared a few spare acorns
for my project. I was not able to return this past
winter to collect scion, but I will return this coming
winter with a couple of colleagues to collect.
Portions of the grove should be ready to be
planted into Stephens Lake Park Arboretum in
2021. Our future collection will be added to the
wild-collected maple-leaf oaks currently held
at the U.S. National Arboretum, The Morton
Arboretum, and The Dawes Arboretum.
I received a good deal of help from colleagues at
The Morton Arboretum, the Ouachita National
Forest, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission,
and a couple of private citizens. Without them,
this project wouldn't have happened. I'm also
grateful that I have support from my employer, the
City of Columbia, Missouri Parks and Recreation
Department, as well as the Missouri Community
Forestry Council and the International Oak Society,
all helping out in some way with this project.
There are many other endangered species out there
that could use ex-situ conservation efforts like this,
and it doesn't take much work to begin. The Morton
Arboretum has begun an ambitious oak conservation
project focusing on the most endangered species.
They are partnering with arboreta and municipal-
ities with the capacities for this work across the
country. You can learn more about these endan-
gered tree ex-situ conservation efforts here.
Foliage of maple-leaf oak.
urban-forestry.com 17
