Seeds From Mauro Peixoto

Are you excited about seeds? Like to grow your plants "from the ground up", so to speak? Well the folks at the Twin Cities chapter of the gesneriad society are getting a chance to do just that. A variety of different gesneriad seeds from Brazil were passed out to the members present at the January meeting that were interested in trying some propagation of rare and unusual plants. I got some seeds from Sinningia araneosa. I'll begin taking pictures when I sow the seeds so we can watch the progress as they germinate and grow over the next few months.

Mauro Peixoto, from Brazil, has been collecting and researching a variety of plants including many from the gesneriad family. His work in important for anyone interested in horticulture and conservation, but especially for people interested in gesneriads! From an excerpt taken from a yahoo group notification passed on to me from C. A., he says:

I'm very proud to say that thanks to your precious help, I was able to
increase the greenhouse area from 340 to 420 square meters and
transform about 2000 square meters from my back yard into a garden of
native Passifloras and Aristolochias.

The seed list grew from 28 Plant Families and 390 listings to 34
Families and 589 listings.

I still didn't finish the inventory of the living collection , but it
surely grew in more than 200 species. I'm currently working on it and I
hope to have it ready by February or March and will post the list in
the `Files' section

Seeds from several new species were sent to the members.

Sinningia sp `Florianopolis'
Zephyranthes sp `Cardoso Moreira', and Aristolochia sp `Itarana' are
just a few examples.

Clubs or individuals can subscribe to a yearly membership that entitles you to receive a sampling of Mauro's seeds three times a year. What a fascinating way to increase your collection and grow something that might be truly unique in the U.S. Mauro Peixoto's work is vital in cataloging, researching, conserving and preserving plants that in many cases are all but unknown. Mauro's website is at http://mpeixoto.sites.uol.com.br/index.html

The local gesneriad club meets on the fourth Tuesday of the month near Hamline and #36. Email the blog for more details about the AGGSTC or for information about joining.