The need for information on plant conservation techniques is increasing rapidly in the face of increased extinction risks to plants including habitat loss, unsustainable harvesting, and climate change (Antonelli et al., 2020). Genetic issues in ex situ exceptional plant conservation Any method of ex situ conservation must rely on a robust method of maintaining the genetic diversity of the species. This special issue grew out of a number of collaborative exceptional plant conservation initiatives, including the collaborative grant approach detailed in Philpott et al. (2022) and the virtual Conservation of Exceptional Plants Symposium/Workshop hosted by the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden's Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) in October 2021. As more researchers study and develop conservation protocols for these vulnerable species and publish their results, collaboration, resources, and efficiency within the exceptional plant conservation community should increase. [Extracted from the article]