Needle palm, viable seeds?

[Phoenikakias]

I have a female needle palm without male counterparts around, which produced this year 4 well shaped fruits containing also seeds. This is a picture of two fruits and two seeds. I have never come across pollinated fruits and fertile seeds of this palm sp before, so I have zero experience. If I dissect the seeds, I will waste them and miss the chance of propagation. So I would like to know from a knowledgeable person, whether those fruits and seeds look at least pollinated and generally whether needle palms can also be hermaphrodite. 

[LivistonaFan]

I am certainly not a knowledgeable person on this topic but the same happened to me last year and apparently also to @Chester B.  The seeds of my needle palm were quite durable and looked fertile so I put them in my heated propagator.  After several months none of the seeds germinated and I threw them into the compost.

Edited December 18, 2021 by LivistonaFan

[Jimbean]

4 hours ago, Phoenikakias said:

I have a female needle palm without male counterparts around, which produced this year 4 well shaped fruits containing also seeds. This is a picture of two fruits and two seeds. I have never come across pollinated fruits and fertile seeds of this palm sp before, so I have zero experience. If I dissect the seeds, I will waste them and miss the chance of propagation. So I would like to know from a knowledgeable person, whether those fruits and seeds look at least pollinated and generally whether needle palms can also be hermaphrodite. 

I believe there has to be both there and pollinated. 

[Phoenikakias]

10 hours ago, LivistonaFan said:

I am certainly not a knowledgeable person on this topic but the same happened to me last year and apparently also to @Chester B.  The seeds of my needle palm were quite durable and looked fertile so I put them in my heated propagator.  After several months none of the seeds germinated and I threw them into the compost.

Had you subjected your seeds to a floating test?

[LivistonaFan]

37 minutes ago, Phoenikakias said:

Had you subjected your seeds to a floating test?

Yes, they passed it successfully. Soaking the seeds for 1-3 days is part of my standard procedure for germinating palm seeds and if they are floating I am generally not trying to germinate them. I can't recall why I threw the seeds away, they have most probably rotten or I got impatient.

Edited December 18, 2021 by LivistonaFan

[tjwalters]

14 hours ago, Phoenikakias said:

I have a female needle palm without male counterparts around, which produced this year 4 well shaped fruits containing also seeds. This is a picture of two fruits and two seeds. I have never come across pollinated fruits and fertile seeds of this palm sp before, so I have zero experience. If I dissect the seeds, I will waste them and miss the chance of propagation. So I would like to know from a knowledgeable person, whether those fruits and seeds look at least pollinated and generally whether needle palms can also be hermaphrodite.

You thought you had a female needle palm, but the truth is the whole "needle palms are dioecious" thing is a myth I've been trying to dispel for years.  I've had a (now quite large) needle for decades and some years it only produces male flowers, some years both male and female flowers, and some years male/female(?) flowers, too.  It was producing viable seed before any of my other needles were large enough to flower.  The individual flowers on yours may have been hermaphroditic.  Whether or not the seeds are viable only time will tell.  

Here's my largest needle and a photo showing both male flowers (spent) and fruits on the same inflorescence.