Any chance these seeds will develop?

[Butch]

 

These Foxtail seeds came down a few days ago, I'm assuming the strong winds we had here caused it... I have plenty of foxtail seed from other trees, but this tree is with in 10' of a Veitchia, and I'm thinking, maybe Foxyladys... I have some seedlings from the other foxtails that look like foxyladys, but this tree is much closer to the Veitchia than the others... These look pretty close to fully developed (By size), but not much color change... Do yo think that if I left them as is, and see if the color changed , that they would ripen or or be viable?

 

Thanks,

Butch

[PalmatierMeg]

Are some of them starting to turn orange? I think it's worth the time and effort to try and salvage some of those seeds. Even if you get a fraction of them to germinate you may still end up with a lot of seedlings.

[Butch]

Some are yellowing, and a few have a tinge of orange.... I have a ton of foxtail seedlings popping up in my garden, but was hoping i'd get something special out out this batch.... Thanks for the advice... I think I'll let them develop on the stem, and if they change color, I'll give them a try...

Thanks again,

Butch

[Darold Petty]

It seems unlikely that the seeds will continue development after the spadix has become detached from the trunk.  In my past experience seeds that are nearly full sized but still with a green epicarp (rather than the mature color), these seeds will be subject to rot, and only a very small percentage will germinate.  This is common with seeds that are very difficult to obtain, and thus there is the incentive to harvest them (now or never).  The recent example would be the Ravenea glauca 'Andringitra' that we were all so excited about, only to experience very poor germination.  I also had this result with a cloud forest Prestoea, from a very high altitude. 

  However, nothing new is discovered by sticking with the conventional wisdom., so continue !   And please keep us apprised of the results. 

[Butch]

I will....If the seeds do turn orange, would that indicate that they are ripe? On my other foxtails they turn orange and fall independently from  the spadix.

Butch