Vegetative propagation of three prioritized Greek endemics with potential commercial interest: Erysimum naxense Snogerup, Erysimum krendlii Polatschek and Centaurea paxorum Phitos & Georgiadis

The Balkan Botanic Garden of Kroussia has formulated a conservation strategy for the collection and documentation of wild plant material for sustainable utilization, prioritizing the Greek rare - threatened endemics. In this framework, the species studied were the endangered Erysimum krendlii Polatschek, the vulnerable Centaurea paxorum Phitos & Georgiadis and the rare Erysimum naxense Snogerup: all are range-restricted, local Greek endemics with small populations in the wild, therefore with conservation priority, showing also potential commercial interest (aromatic-medicinal properties, edible parts or as pot plants for gardening). The effect of the immersion of the base of the cuttings for 1 min in indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) solutions at different concentrations (0, 1000, 2000, 4000 ppm) on root formation was tested for all species. A peat moss: perlite substrate (1:3 ratio) was used for the experiment. E. krendlii had better performance with 4000 ppm IBA showing 100% rooting, 30.86 roots 3.71 long after 5 weeks in the mist. Rooting of C. paxorum cuttings was optimum after 3 weeks exhibiting 100% rooting, 47.86 roots 2.61 cm long with 1000 ppm IBA. E. naxense gave 85.71% rooting, 19 roots 3.06 cm long with 4000 ppm IBA after 8 weeks. All the young individuals produced were transplanted in bigger pots (0.33, 1 Lt) until their final transplanting pot size (2.5 Lt), each time in a peat moss: perlite: soil substrate (2:½:½ v/v), for their subsequent growth. The successful asexual propagation of the studied wild species allowed the creation of mother plants, facilitated their ex situ conservation and domestication.