Plants & People

Helianthus decapetalus, a wild sunflower

What are Crop Wild Relatives?

Crop wild relatives are simply the wild and weedy relatives of our crop plants. All crops have wild relatives, which can include the ancestor of the crop as well as many other relatives, usually in the same genus, but sometimes more distantly related.

Learn more from the talk I gave on Crop Wild Relatives for Blandy, the State Arboretum, in January 2024

These relatives are important resources for agriculture and food security. A crop species often has little genetic diversity — but its relatives harbor genes for many traits that the crop may need, in resisting pests and pathogens, or tolerating drought, flooding, cold and heat. Because the relatives continue to evolve in the wild, adapting themselves to conditions, they have the resistance and tolerance that may be called on by crop breeders.

Crop wild relatives need to be conserved both ex situ (in seed banks, for example) and in situ (where they grow naturally).

Herrania balaensis, Malvaceae — a crop wild relative of cacao. Photo taken in the Atlanta Botanic Garden.
Dioscorea villosa, Dioscoreaceae — wild yam from Watermark Woods Native Plants and growing in my yard
Vitis aestivalis, Vitaceae — crop wild relative of the wine grape growing south of Leesburg, Virginia

Designed with WordPress