The occurrence and importance of Crop Wild Relatives Plants

in Poland and in the World Dostatny, D.F.1, Szymański W.M.2

1 National Centre for Plant Genetic Resources - Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute - National Research Institute, Radzików; 2 The Complex of the Holy Cross and the Nida River Landscape Parks, Krzyżanowice Średnie

email: d.dostatny@ihar.edu.pl - Poland

Material and methods

Since 2015, a group of botanists from various Polish research units has worked on compiling a list of Polish crop wild relatives. The work has been based on the Polish list of vascular plants (Mirek et al., 2002). At the beginning, all species currently cultivated and ephemerophytes were crossed out from the list. Then, competent scientists marked all species in the list which were, are or may be practically used in Poland. Plants from various categories were marked, i.e. forestry, aromatic and cosmetic, dyeing and fibrous, edible plants, medicinal plants, forage plants, as well as plants significant in agroecosystems. Among those, species found in the Polish and European Red List of Endangered Species were underlined. Presently, we are working on the criteria for selecting species which should be protected in situ.

Results and discussion

The list of Polish vascular plant species contains almost 4000 plant taxons. After verifying the nomenclature and crossing out almost taxons of a rank lower than species, 3308 wild and cultivated plants were left. Crossing out ephemerophytes and cultivated plants left the list with 2726 species. Next, the scientists underlined species which were, are, or may be useful, but had never been cultivated in Poland. Species which were cultivated in Poland once, but had first appeared in the country as wild species were also marked. Table 1 shows the numbers of useful crop wild relative species by plant groups in Poland.

Introduction Crop wild relatives (CWR) are plants closely related to cultivated plant species and may constitute a source of relevant genes for breeding new varieties of these plants. Crossbreeding may allow to form plants resistance to diseases. They may also influence the appearance or size of edible organs, the harvest index, the development phenology and the time necessary to obtain crops, as well as the resistance to frost, tolerance to abiotic stress, i.e. unfavourable environmental conditions. They also provide valuable raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry or may be entirely or partly edible.

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Conclusion Wild plants constitute an inexhaustible warehouse of valuable useful plants, which is little known and appreciated nowadays. It is necessary to preserve local taxons, since they are perfectly adapted to local conditions. If we do not put more interest in the protection (particularly in situ) of the most valuable species they may soon become extinct, while they might contribute to the forming of the most economically significant “future species”.

The food in south-eastern Asia is mainly based on rice (Oryza sativa), while in Europe – on wheat (Triticum spp.), rye (Secale cereale) and potatos (Solanum tuberosum). Tropical countries of Africa or Central America rely on maize (Zea mays), manioc (Manihot spp.) and yams (Dioscorea spp.). The diversity of crop plants is high due to the different types of climates, soils, etc. in various parts of the world. Apart from that, cultivated plants come from different domestication centres. A great deal of crop wild relatives rarely occur in Poland and deserve preservation. One of them is rice cutgrass (Leersia oryzoides) – our native rice (formerly known as Oryza clandestina), closely related to the American wild rice and water oats (Zizania aquatica) - Asian cultivated rice. Sand kochia (Kochia laniflora) – Polish native species - is a plant closely related to burningbush (K. scoparia) sometimes cultivated for feed as well as edible plant, e.g. in Japan. This species is highly tolerant to dry infertile soils and forms tasty yellow and green nuts.

There are numerous species of crop wild relatives in every corner of the world. Poland, for example, has a wealth of wild edible plants. There are over 1000 species, but only a small of them are plants which could constitute staple diet for people. In countries of more abounding and more diversified flora, e.g. in Madagascar, we can find even more such species. About 12 thousand vascular plant species have been described in the island, 85% of which are endemic. There are plenty of useful species, over 5300 of them can be used in treatment of diseases (Hunter & Heywood, 2011). We do not know how many of them are wild useful species, but about 3 thousand (25% of vascular flora) are included in the red list (Madagascar Catalogue, 2017). There are 765 species (about 30% of flora) endangered with extinction in Poland. Comparison of the Polish flora to the flora of Madagascar shows that a few wild useful species occur in both countries despite the many differences and the distance, e.g. Cyperus michelianus, which occurs in Madagascar in the pygmaeus subspecies, while in Poland the species (its local ecotype) has, unfortunately, become extinct (tab. 2).

Trifolium lupinaster

Peucedanum palustre

Chaerophyllum bulbosum

Literatura: Hunter D., Heywood V., 2011. Crop Wild Relatives. A manual of in situ conservation. Bioversity international. Earthscan. UK Madagascar Catalogue, 2017. Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Madagascar. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, U.S.A. & Antananarivo, Madagascar [http://www.efloras.org/madagascar. Accessed: May, 2017]. Mirek. Z., Piękoś-Mirkowa, Zając A., Zając M., 2002. Flowering plants and pteridophytes of Poland. A checklist.

Nr Plant group Number of species Red list

1 Medicinal 255 31

2 Aromatic and cosmetic 255 31

3 Fibrous and dyeing 295 39

4 Edible 1167 169

5 Forage 91 9

6 Forestry 70 6

7 Ornamental 841 212

8 (Agro)Ecosystem services 142 51

Total* 1789 350

Nr Species (native) Threat (Polish Red List)

Threat (in Madagascar)

Purpose

1 Cyperus michelianus (L.) Link

EX LC (red list IUCN 2013)

edible (seeds)

2 Potamogeton pectinatus L. (sago pondweed)

- LC (red list IUCN 2013)

edible tubers

3 Potamogeton nodosus Poir. (longleaf pondweed)

VU LC (red list IUCN 2013)

edible tubers

4 Pteridium aquilinum (L.) kuhn (eagle fern)

- - edible young leaves and rhizomes

5 Samolus velerandi L. (seaside brookweed)

strictly protected

- edible young leaves

Kochia laniflora

Solanum luteum

Orange nightshade (Solanum luteum), closely related to tomatoes and rarely cultivated species from the nightshade Solanum section, is one of the rarest ruderal species in Poland. Its fruit and young sprouts are eaten in Africa. Milk-parsley (Peucedanum palustre) – also known as “Swedish ginger” due to the characteristic taste of its roots – is „a cousin” of parsley and celery. In the past, the species was cultivated in gardens as a spice. Cooked bulb-like rhizomes of the rare lupine clover (Trifolium lupinaster) taste deceptively similar to peanuts. They used to be eaten by Tungusic peoples from Siberia. Turnip-rooted chervil (Chaerophyllum bulbosum) is a luxurious vegetable cultivated in a few varieties, mainly in France. In the Middle Ages, it was also cultivated in Poland, now, however, it is completely forgotten.

Conringia orientalis

Tab. 1. Wild plant species which are useful in Poland

Tab. 2. Wild edible plant species common to Poland and Madagascar