Seed Collecting with the Great Basin Institute

This article was originally published in The Midden – Great Basin National Park: Vol. 25, No. 2, Winter 2025.

Prickly poppy site in Lehman Flats.

Ellie Redemann and Zedd Martin

By Ellie Redemann and Zedd Martin, Seeds of Success

As summer came to a close, so did our work season as Seeds of Success crew members with the Great Basin Institute. Seeds of Success (SOS) is a national program led by the Bureau of Land Management dedicated to collecting wildland native seed for conservation and restoration projects across public lands. The Great Basin region, including Great Basin National Park, has a diverse range of ecosystems as elevation varies from desert scrub to alpine forests creating a mosaic of native plant communities. The Great Basin is also prone to disturbances such as wildfires, making the collection of seeds for restoration all the more important.

Watson's penstemon, one of the target species

Ellie Redemann and Zedd Martin

Our job as Seeds of Success technicians was to identify and phenologically track target species as well as collect habitat and site data. Within the park we identified many target populations including perennial grasses like bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) and Indian ricegrass (Achnatherum hymenoides) as well as forbs or herbaceous species such as redroot buckwheat (Eriogonum racemosum) and Watson’s penstemon (Penstemon watsonii). Target populations are logged in the national SOSGIS database which acts as a guide throughout the season. Each year of data collection aids the following season’s technicians in finding target populations viable for seed collection and timing ideal harvest.

As plants start to lose their flowers and produce seed, we collect! This season we collected from three different plant populations inside the park

Prickly poppy close-up.

Ellie Redemann and Zedd Martin

Our biggest collection of the season was from a population of prickly poppy (Argemone munita). We spent many days collecting these plants that sprawled across Lehman Flats. A neighboring Seeds of Success crew with American Conservation Experience (ACE) was integral to making this large collection happen - we were lucky to have so many hands gathering seeds. All together, ten pounds of prickly poppy was collected. It will be used throughout the Great Basin for restoration, including a small portion sent to a grower for cultural practices which establish a protocol for agricultural production of the plant. While working with this population, our crew identified anunusual, not-so-prickly Argemone phenotype. Jerry Tiehm, herbarium curator and botanist with the University of Nevada, Reno, identified the plant as Argemone corymbosa. Although we did not collect from this species, this finding establishes A. corymbosa outside of its previously known range in Nevada and within Great Basin National Park’s boundaries.

The second collection we made in Great Basin National Park was coyote tobacco (Nicotiana attenuata), which is a great primary succession species. This means it establishes well in disturbed areas such as those affected by wildland fires. In fact, the coyote tobacco was growing alongside prickly poppy in an old burn scar. In contrast to the prickly and pokey poppy, the tobacco collection was a breeze.

The last collection made in the park was Watson’s penstemon (Penstemon watsonii). The ACE crew did most of the heavy lifting for this collection, helping us achieve our goals for restoration!

Ellie and Zedd at the Great Basin National Park entrance sign.

Ellie Redemann and Zedd Martin

Thanks to the partnership between Great Basin National Park and Great Basin Institute, over 2.5 million seeds were collected within the park this year that will be used for restoration and research across the Great Basin ecoregion. The Seeds of Success program plays an integral role in conserving the ecosystems that make the Great Basin so special.