Article

Four Mediterranean, desiccation-tolerant species were assayed for in vitro culture and subsequent cryopreservation using the encapsulation–dehydration method. Two of them are rare species endemic to the Mediterranean area, where they are distributed in several countries or islands (Entosthodon commutatus and Funariella curviseta), one is an endemic of Fuerteventura, Canary Islands (Orthotrichum handiense), and catalogued as Endangered in the Spanish Red list, and one (Entosthodon hungaricus) has a wider distribution in central and southern Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. All of them were successfully cultured and cryopreserved with conservation in mind.