Thursday, February 28, 2008

Floating Bismarckia seeds




The absolute worst thing I could have wanted to see. I will start with how I always am looking for palm seeds. Bismarckia and Foxtails are tough to find in my area because they have not been here for that long, but I thought I had scored. A big mature female with a male not as old a few houses away had been fruiting. I talked to the man who lived at the house and asked him if I could collect some seeds. Of course the man said. So I filled my pockets with seeds off of the ground. I got home started to clean and soak them. This is what happened. Every single last 1 of them floated not 1 sinker. So once again I am looking for that 1 Bismarckia fruiting with viable seeds.
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7 comments:

  1. Priscilla GeorgeFebruary 28, 2008 at 10:48 PM

    Wow that is very interesting about the sinking of the viable seed. I wish you luck. Will you be going back to your neighbor and asking for more seeds?

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  2. brandankFebruary 29, 2008 at 10:09 AM

    I am waiting for the stalk in the picture to mature and try some fresh 1's.

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  3. AnonymousMarch 1, 2008 at 12:17 AM

    This news is so foreign to me and I had to laugh--no offense...but your header pic is so funny. And the floating seeds..well I read what you were up to and laughed again. I check eggs to see if they float but never did a seed this way and never saw a seed that big either. Maybe the guy and gal don't like each other!! Seems like something you really got to have so I'm hoping you find a lovely couple who will produce fruit and ya'll can all live in harmony. Welcome to botanical.com I look forward to the continuing saga of the tale of two seeds.

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  4. AnonymousMarch 3, 2008 at 12:46 PM

    Bad luck - fascinating stuff!

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  5. AnonymousAugust 11, 2008 at 11:12 PM

    You know, not ALL seeds tell the tale of viablility through their floating test, if you have every single one floating, i'd say thats probably due to them being less dense with the water, and with some palm, and cycad seeds that may be something of the norm, as they may have a spongy type of endosperm.

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  6. AnonymousAugust 11, 2008 at 11:13 PM

    but i LOVE your site, very informative, and picture friendly, fun to look at. Keep it up.

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  7. AnonymousMay 27, 2011 at 6:09 PM

    So did these floaters ever germinate? I am going through the same thing right now ... Found a nice Bismark tree but all the seeds float ...

    Thanks.

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