Seed vault mission
Species list
Can any seed be banked?

Previous - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - Next

How are seeds stored?
What is an accession?
Take a tour of the seed vault

Fund a rare seed collection

The Miller Seed Vault is a state-of-the-art facility specially designed for storing seeds under optimal environmental conditions in a secure facility.  Known as ex situ (off site) conservation, seed banking allows scientists to preserve the genetic resources of plant species so that these species are not lost in the event of a catastrophe.

Volunteer Sarah Bailey prepares Sidalcea nelsoniana
seeds for longterm storage in the Miller Seed Vault.

The mission of the Miller Seed Vault is to:

• collect and conserve seed of over 320 rare plant species in Washington,
• conserve the seed of native species used to restore native plant communities following a natural disaster, and
• conserve the seed of horticultural varieties not commonly used today.

What's in the seed vault?

Since 2003, Rare Care has added 60 species of rare native plants to the seed vault.  2007 was an exceptional year. Over 20 collections were added to the vault representing over 700 new accessions. Then in 2008, we added nearly 30 collections and over 1,000 new accessions. That's double what we accomplished just two years ago.

Read Rare Care's latest Seed Collecting Annual Report.