Seed Provenance

i) Seed Provenance

Refers to the place (geographical locality) where plants from which seed was collected are growing. The seed source may be restricted in area, e.g. where many seed-bearing trees (or shrubs) are growing in a forest stand, or may be diffuse, e.g. where seed trees are scattered and are at some distance from each other.

ii) Record of Provenance and Verification

(a) Because seed from any given collection is likely to be used within a relatively short time, it should always be possible to maintain a record of the provenance of that seed and obtain independent verification.

Future forest plantings in Britain are likely to come within the scope of the UK Woodland Assurance Scheme, which monitors environmental aspects of silviculture and certifies timber leaving the woodland. It is possible that certification or similar assurance of the provenance of a seed source will be insisted on for new plantings and that available information on origin will be considered desirable.

(b) If plants are of local seed origin, their provenance is the same as their origin.

(c) Plants of any given provenance can be expected to exhibit similar phenological and morphological characteristics to their parents if planted on similar sites, even at some distance from their origin.

(d) Seed collections made from the same provenance in different years are differentiated by year of collection.

iii) Local Seed Zones and Regions of Provenance

The Forestry Commission have published a map of ‘Local seed zones’ and ‘Regions of provenance’ for planting native trees and shrubs in Britain. Any native seed origin or provenance collected within a local seed zone can reliably be used at similar elevations within that local seed zone. If seed is not available from within a preferred local seed zone, the next choice should be from among sources from stands of good form and vigour growing at similar elevations in the same ‘Region of Provenance’. (Reference FC Practice Note 8, published August 1999).