{"id":1078,"date":"2025-10-31T15:32:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T14:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/artificial-pollination-of-dioon-merolae-at-marimurtra\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T15:32:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T14:32:38","slug":"artificial-pollination-of-dioon-merolae-at-marimurtra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/artificial-pollination-of-dioon-merolae-at-marimurtra\/","title":{"rendered":"Artificial pollination of Dioon merolae at Marimurtra"},"content":{"rendered":"

This October, a very special process took place at the Marimurtra Botanical Garden on a specimen from the cycad collection: the artificial pollination of an individual of Dioon merolae<\/i>. This species is native to southeastern Mexico, in the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, where it lives in pine and oak forests. Like many species of this genus, it is threatened (Vulnerable category, according to the IUCN Red List<\/a>) and its trade is restricted under the international CITES<\/a> convention. Dioon<\/i> belongs to one of the oldest groups of seed plants still living on the planet, which already existed more than 250 million years<\/b> ago, before the age of the dinosaurs.<\/p>\n

Until now, it had not been possible to confirm whether this specimen was male or female, as it had not produced any cone. This year, however, the appearance of the female cone<\/b> has made it possible to verify that it is a female plant and, therefore, to attempt artificial pollination in order to produce seeds.<\/p>\n

To make this possible, Iv\u00e1n Soto<\/b>, head of the cycad collection at Marimurtra, used the pollen from a male specimen<\/b> found in Marimurtra. After collecting the male cone and gently tapping it over a tray, a sufficient amount of pollen was obtained. This was mixed with water to facilitate its application and introduced into the female cone, where the ovules are located.
\nUnlike what happens in its natural habitat, where certain insects are responsible for pollination, in the Garden this process was carried out manually<\/b> to increase the chances of successful fertilization.<\/p>\n

Now we must wait. The seed maturation process is very slow<\/b>: it can take about six months or more<\/b> until the female cone opens and allows the collection of mature seeds. Once collected, they must be cleaned and stored<\/b> for several additional months so that the embryo can finish maturing. If all goes well, in about a year we will know whether fertilization has been successful. Artificial reproduction is a delicate process that requires patience and care.<\/p>\n

Cycads, such as Dioon merolae<\/i>, are extraordinarily long-lived<\/b> plants, hundreds of years old, and it has been estimated that, exceptionally, some could live for more than a thousand years<\/b>. With this action, Marimurtra takes another step forward in the conservation and understanding of this fascinating group of plants, living witnesses to the evolutionary history of the Earth.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
    \n
  • \"\"<\/li>\n
  • \"\"<\/li>\n
  • \"\"<\/li>\n
  • \"\"<\/li>\n
  • \"\"<\/li>\n
  • \"\"<\/li>\n
  • \"\"<\/li>\n
  • \"\"<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This October, a very special process took place at the Marimurtra Botanical Garden on a specimen from the cycad collection: the artificial pollination of an individual of Dioon merolae. This species is native to southeastern Mexico, in the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, where it lives in pine and oak forests. Like many species of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[42,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biodiversitat","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1078\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marimurtra.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}