![]() ![]() Furthermore, both evidence and storytelling regarding high-added value products of unique identity are needed for effective commercial prospecting and fascination of consumers, stakeholders, producers, wholesalers, and retailers. Given this shortcoming, the critical step for the sustainable exploitation of NUPs is the development of species-specific propagation and cultivation protocols which are both effective and affordable upon such development, agronomical approaches and agro-processing procedures may be facilitated, thus unlocking the commercialization potential of NUPs and permitting value chain creation. However, they have never been mainstreamed and they hardly appeal to research communities, politicians, and stakeholders. The native phytogenetic resources of given regions are globally and locally valuable, meriting both conservation and new ventures to establish value chains, and they are also used or are appreciated at local scales. Neglected and underutilized plants (NUPs) often encompass scarcely known plant species, subspecies, or crop varieties with interesting or remarkable potential in economic sectors, but only infrequently do they refer to local endemic floristic elements of small geographical territories, namely from an island. To overcome seed dormancy for conservation purposes or sustainable exploitation needs, a plethora of stratification and pre-treatment regimes have been proposed to date in the literature. Nonetheless, the seeds of many plant species often present varied dormancy types with innate mechanisms securing the appropriate timing of seed germination therefore, species-specific research is required. Foregoing studies on the sexual reproduction of several conservation priority plants have focused on the settings or conditions that promise a satisfactory germination of seeds, thus introducing effective propagation protocols. ![]() Nevertheless, to date severe knowledge gaps (e.g., largely unknown biological cycle in man-made settings, appropriate species-specific propagation techniques, ex situ acclimatization potential) are still extant for the majority of plant species that are of conservation concern, such as insular local endemic plants. In situ plant biodiversity conservation is often but should always be supported by ex situ conservation actions that involve: storing seed lots in seed banks to secure the enhanced representation of the genetic diversity of prioritized plant species employing different propagation trials with varied methods to aid the development of species-specific propagation protocols using acclimatization methods regarding high-cost and valuable plant stocks raised ex situ destined for future reintroduction and reinforcing the population of targeted species in the wild habitats. Apart from the facilitation of future species-specific conservation actions, the study showcases that the obtained results herein may permit an upgrade in the feasibility and readiness timescale assessments for the sustainable exploitation of studied taxa in different economic sectors. After keeping seeds at 4–5 ☌ for three months, pre-treatments were performed (immersion in 50 or 250 ppm of gibberellic acid solution for 24 h) on three taxa with low germination capacity, thus resulting to the germination acceleration of Calamintha cretica seeds and increased germination capacity of Onopordum bracteatum subsp. minoana (38%), and Origanum microphyllum (23%), and very low capacity was observed for Onopordum bracteatum subsp. Average–low germination capacity was observed for seeds of Calamintha cretica (26%), Lomelosia minoana subsp. creticus, and Petromarula pinnata, followed by Draba cretica (91%) and Sanguisorba cretica (86%). After 60 days, 100% germination was observed for seeds of Campanula cretica, Dianthus fruticosus subsp. ![]() The onset of in vivo germination was defined by the visible radicle protrusion (6th–9th day from sowing). We used seeds directly collected from the wild sown in peat (Terrahum):perlite (1:1 v/ v ratio)covered with coarse-grained vermiculite in a greenhouse mist bench with a substrate temperature of 19 ± 2 ☌. The in vivo germination course (15, 30, 45, and 60 days) of nine threatened local endemic plants of Crete (Greece) was studied due to conservation concerns and commercial interest in economic sectors. ![]()
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