Florida has more endangered plants than any other state in the Eastern U.S., and of the more than 40 species propagated within the EPPP, 16 are from Florida. They include: Four-petal pawpaw (Asimina tetramera), Beautiful pawpaw (Deeringothamnus pulchellus), Rugel's pawpaw (Deeringothamnus rugelii), Florida ziziphus (Ziziphus celata), Scrub lupine (Lupinus aridorum), Avon Park harebells (Crotalaria avonensis), Lakela's mint (Dicerandra immaculata), a mint temporarily named 'Lake Pierce' (Dicerandra 'Lake Pierce'), Young palm orchid (Tropidia polystachya), Carter’s orchid (Basikphyllaea corallicola), Pepperleaf sweetwood (Licaria triandra), and five ferns. Work on these species is being done in collaboration with the Center for Plant Conservation (St. Louis, MO), Historic Bok Sanctuary (Lake Wales, FL), Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (Miami, FL), Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, and Archbold Biological Station (Lake Placid, FL) and is funded in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The three pawpaws being studied are all endemic to Florida, and conversion of habitat to agriculture and residential development is the primary threat to the future of these species. Seed production from all three species is low, and CREW researchers have used the technique of "In Vitro Collecting" or IVC, to collect tissues from these plants in Florida (Click Here for IVC Slide Show). After transport to CREW, tissue culture has been used to propagate new plants from these collections. Methods have also been developed to cryopreserve each tissue culture line in liquid nitrogen in CREW’s Frozen Garden, an important technique for saving this species into the future, since pawpaw seeds, when produced, are not long-lived and cannot be stored using traditional seed banking methods.

Several other species under study are native to central Florida and the Lake Wales Ridge area. This unique habitat is an area of ancient dunes that remained as islands when much of Florida was flooded several times in the past. This refuge area developed a unique flora and fauna, one that is under severe pressure from agriculture and development. One of these species, Avon Park harebells, has been propagated and is being sent to collaborators in Florida for outplanting.