The ex situ conservation of threatened and endangered UK native species is of strategic importance to Oxford Botanic Garden.
This week once such species, Orobanche rapum-genistae - a parasitic plant which has been absent from Oxfordshire for a number of years - has now been reintroduced to Shotover Park by our horticulturists with the kind help and permission of the City Council and Natural England.
Shotover was identified as having ideal conditions to re-establish this Orobanche species; suitable host plants (gorse) were identified and carefully inoculated with seed collected from plants which flowered at the Botanic Garden this summer.
Oxford Botanic Garden’s horticulturists will be monitoring the site over the next 18 months, by which time the team hope to see the Orobanche established and flowering.
Our thanks go to the site manager Julian Cooper for his assistance.
