Every day at work, plant conservationists in Kunming Xihua Park go to the very small population wild plant protection science base in the park to see. Under their careful care, the seedlings of wild plants in very small populations grew taller and stronger, and some produced small green buds and grew new leaves.
In January this year, the science popularization base for the protection of wild plants with extremely small populations started construction in Xihua Park. From the rescue and protection of the extremely small population of wild plant seedlings, 15 species and 95 wild plants of extremely small populations, such as Qiaojia five-needle pine, Fumin citrus fruit and Diantong, were selected by the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and settled in the base.
People engaged in landscaping know a saying, "three points, seven points". Conservation is one of the key factors in the survival of trees. Xihua Park has a special staff of 11 people who are responsible for the daily management of wild plant seedlings in very small populations. They are like nurserymen, checking and recording the growth status of seedlings every day, how they grow, whether there are any diseases and pests; seeing broken branches and dead branches, pruning them in time; fertilizing once a month, taking medicine every 7 days to 10 days, and watering them according to weather conditions.
Li Murong is one of them. "Each very small population of wild plant seedlings has different personalities and habits," she said. Just like taking care of children, children who are not very adaptable need some attention. On January 9, a strong wind broke the main branch of a large-leaf lily seedling. After pruning the main branch, we added bamboo pole support, and the side branches of this large-leaved lily seedling have produced 8 new leaves these days. Another dryland hibiscus seedling injured its roots while picking seedlings and, under careful care, recently sprouted. ”
In the process of custody, the conservationists communicated with two experts from the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and they also learned more and more about the growth habits of these very small populations of wild plants. "On January 20, 6 days after the spraying, The Western Domain Qinggang, Canopy Wood, Large-leaf Lily, and Unisexual Magnolia performed well, the Maple began to have new leaves, and the dryland hibiscus began to sprout..." Li Murong has a small book that details the daily growth of wild plant seedlings in very small populations, just like their growth manuals.
March 26 is the day of the second "physical examination" of the seedlings of wild plants in the very small population after settling down, and they have to measure the height and base diameter. According to the observation of the nursery staff, the seedlings are generally growing well, and most of them have sprouted new shoots and grown new leaves. Among them, canopy wood, maple maple, silver hazel and tea fruit camphor seedlings performed best. There are canopy wood seedlings that grow from 3.3 meters to 3.5 meters, and the maple is the first to produce new shoots, and even the slow-growing magnificent smile has grown by 3 cm-5 cm.
In order to promote the research on the protection of wild plants in very small populations and the popularization of popular science, the park has set up information cards, and the public can scan the code to understand the information of wild plants of each very small population. The park also plans to continue to cooperate with the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to introduce the second batch of rare population wild plant seedlings with richer varieties to settle down during the year; through regular explanations, knowledge lectures and other popular science activities, let the public know the wild plants of the very small population, and feel the research progress of ex situ protection, reproduction and cultivation of wild plants of the very small population.
Kunming Daily All-Media Chief Reporter: Li Sifan Intern: Zhang Wanyue/Wen
Kunming Daily all-media reporter: Yang Yanhui / photo
Editor-in-charge: Yang Rui
Editor: Wu Chenping
Final Judge: Zhou Jianjun