Exceptional plants have seeds that cannot be stored in conventional seed banks long term. Alternative methods based on tissue/explant cryobiotechnology are needed; however, the implementation of these high-tech approaches is still very limited. One route to immediately strengthen the ex situ conservation of exceptional plants is to establish pollen banks. Pollen from several exceptional species has demonstrated tolerance to desiccation and freezing. If these attributes are shared among most of the exceptional species reported, banks of dry pollen would constitute a low-tech method for the long-term conservation of wide genetic diversity via the safe storage of male gametes. Moreover, pollen banks could be used as a fundamental conservation tool in the restoration of exceptional plants through assisted reproductive technology (ART). We present here an analysis of the storage physiology of the pollen of exceptional plants, showing that important groups producing recalcitrant seeds, such as oaks (Quercus spp.), chestnuts (Castanea spp.), and horse chestnuts (Aesculus spp.), produce desiccation-tolerant “orthodox” pollen. We report three examples of success in the conservation of exceptional plants through pollen preservation: (1) the ‘Global Oak Pollen Bank’ for Quercus sp., (2) the long-term cryogenic storage of Castanea dentata pollen leading to the successful recovery of extinct genotypes through ART, and (3) the efforts of the Chicago Botanic Garden to preserve various endangered species via pollen banking.