Seed bank seeds,stored in airtight jars. The jars contain,from left to right,Aristolochia albida,Diosma oppositifolia,Eucalyptus calophylla,Havardia acatlensis,Corylus colurna (Turkish hazel),Araucaria araucana (monkey-puzzle tree) and Gonolobus sp. These seeds are stored as part of the Millennium Seed Bank Project,an international effort aimed at safeguarding seeds from 30,000 species. This will represent 10 percent of all the world's flowering plants. The seeds are stored in a vault at minus 20 degrees Celsius. Most seeds are still viable after several years of cold storage,but some must be replaced frequently. In 2007 the seed bank contained the seeds from over 18,000 species,making it the largest wild seed collection in the world |