A Summer of Seed Successes

This article was originally published in The Midden – Great Basin National Park: Vol. 24, No. 2, Winter 2024.

The flowers of the flatbud prickly poppy are huge, but surprisingly delicate.

Suzana Bledsoe

By Suzana Bledsoe and Cassandra Workman, Native Seed Technicians, Seeds of Success

As the high season for Great Basin National Park tapers off, and cooler temperatures begin to settle over the peaks, we, as seed collectors, see a different landscape than many of the park’s visitors. When inflorescences are gone, and previously colorful plants head toward the end of their lifecycle for the year, we become excited for what comes next.Seeds!

2024 marked the first year of a fruitful partnership between the Seeds of Success program and Great Basin National Park. Seeds of Success (SOS) is a national seed collection program within the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that uses partnerships with other federal agencies, refuges, sanctuaries, and Tribes to provide the best restoration material possible to public lands. Because of the unique geography of the region, Nevada and the Great Basin have highly diverse climates and landscapes. This lends itself to a diversity of native plant species that have evolved to each niche in the high desert. SOS aims to make sure the most well adapted plants go exactly where they will grow best, to make the most of restoration efforts throughout the region.

Prickly poppy growing after a fuels reduction project and prescribed fire.

Suzana Bledsoe

As technicians for the SOS program, we took part in the first step of this process: seed collection. As soon as it was warm enough, we took off, wildflower chasing, looking for native plants that could help us reach specific ecological goals. Our target plants are selected because they are good at repopulating disturbed areas, such as after mining reclamation or wildfire; stabilizing the soil so that the more finicky native species have a suitable place to repopulate; providing food sources and water retention; and can grow in agricultural settings to increase the availability of their seed.

Our work in the park did not occur until mid-July since much of the park has a markedly higher base elevation, which to us in the environmental sciences, usually correlates to lower annual temperatures and higher precipitation. These factors often push back or extend flowering periods for plants and therefore, seed.

One population we scouted, tracked, and collected in the park this season is Argemone munita, or Prickly Poppy. Located in the Lehmen Flat area, between the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive and the park entrance road, this species has flourished in a prescribed fire site that was part of a fuels reduction project and burned in February of this year. With showy large white petals, and gnarly thorns covering a dusty green colored stem, this poppy was a stunner to find mid-season with bright white flowers swaying in the breeze in the hot summer season. This plant, while not on our target species list this year, fits our goals perfectly, as shown by how happy it is on this post-fire site.

Prickly poppy seed pods have a unique appearance.

Suzana Bledsoe

We completed the “scouting” process, where we estimated population size and life stages of the plant population and made a plan to check back later in the season. Then we waited…until late August. Collecting this population was fascinating as it has other-worldly looking pods and a rattle-like sound when the seeds are dry and ripe. When ready, the pods burst open from the top and their seed shakes out like popcorn in an air popper. This is why timing is key – green seeds mean mold, while over-ripe seeds will be lost to weather, pests, or degradation.

After collecting, we treat the seeds and pods, preventing any insects and pests from moving between locations. Finally, the seed is shipped off to an extractory to be separated from any excess plant material. From there, these prickly poppy seeds may move far, much farther than they naturally would from this post-fire site in an ongoing effort to help restore the lands in the Great Basin.