The interesting case of Cordia parvifolia: Not enough research, or something else

[Silas_Sancona]

In Horticulture, some things regarding plant propagation are pretty straight forward.. Harvest and clean seed, set seed in a proper growing medium, then provide the right light, warmth, some water.. and wait.  In other cases, starting things from seed may be a bit more complicated. In a few instances, sometimes there is incomplete or out-dated data that might require further investigation. In the case of Little Leaf Cordia, that last thought applies.

When discussing this interesting, extremely drought tolerant, smaller -leaved relative of the more common Texas Olive, Cordia boissieri, have mentioned how i'd noticed that  a specimen i'd planted in my front yard had started to produce seed as it has grown larger. When i first started researching the species, there was talk that plants didn't produce seed here.  There was also talk, and papers written ( one sited below ) regarding how even if the species did produce seed here, germination rates would be extremely low ( see the tiny section in the PDF regarding this species ) and that the preferred method of propagation was from cuttings. ( have tried that myself, un-successfully ) Additional info. regarding germinating TX. Olive in the article as well..

https://cals.arizona.edu/extension/ornamentalhort/nurseryprod/Cordia.pdf

Well, ..after seeing my plant producing -what appeared to be- viable seed the last couple years/ last fall, only seeming to disappear between then and now, was cleaning up the yard several weeks ago and came across the remains of shed seeds below the same plant. Knowing Texas Olive, and some other Cordia sp. i have collected seed from, seed below this plant  looked to be the right size to possibly be viable.. ~if ~ it were even possible to germinate them ( going back to what info i'd read over several times in the past ) let alone if they were still viable ( Cordia are considered one of those plants which produces recalcitrant < short-lived > seed ) since i hadn't noticed them for a few months.  Regardless, as dry as it has been, wouldn't be shocked if they didn't move, no matter what.  Still, rounded up what i could find, processed them, and tossed them in a pot.. i mean, doesn't hurt to try, right?

Pictures of uncleaned/ cleaned seed after soaking overnight i regular tap water. As you can see, cleaned seed look good. Solid, heavy, no floaters either. There are a total of 5 in the pictures, found another the next day. Repeated the same process and potted up w/ the rest a day later.




A few weeks later,  ...Perhaps thoughts cited in the article weren't quite right? / newer data ( i might have missed seeing ) has shown better results?  Out of 6 seeds potted up, 2 are germinated, 1 starting to germinate, so far..  As you can see, i use wash- collected grit, turface, pumice.. less than 10% organics in there.

**Yellowish "twig" isn't part of the plant, simply pointing to the emerging seedling just to the right of the tip of it**






If my math is correct, that's a 50% germination rate. Obviously would need to replicate this again a couple times w/ say 25-40+ seeds to collect better data, but, not bad results for a first attempt, imo..

..and for anyone remotely thinking it, there are no TX. Olives within 3 miles of the house, and seeds are a bit bigger than these. No conspiracies here, lol.

***Will update later as these progress past the just germinated stage, and as the rest ( hopefully ) germinate as well.***

 Pictures of the same specimen in full fall bloom 2019



 

[Silas_Sancona]

Quick update:

After watching over these little buggers, appears 4 out of 6 seeds will be the total germinated from this test.. Which, if my already shoddy math is correct, works out to roughly 70% for this batch.

While i've had it occur w/ the other Cordia sp. i have started from seed, wasn't sure if C. parvifolia followed the same " Individual seeds can contain 1- 3 Embryos ( typical is 2 ) " rule. Looks like this species follows it to a T w/ 3 out of the 4 that germinated producing ( or in the process of producing.. ** = picture with emerging second seedling ) 2 seedlings. 

As for the two seeds that didn't germinate?,, appears the embryos were duds.. Something that is to be expected when growing seed batches of pretty much any plant. Anyway, a few pictures of how those that made it are progressing. For me, here, this is a critical stage. While i've been able to get numerous things i have germinated up and going, the dry air here as we head into summer likes to knock out youngsters at about this size. We'll see what happens.

Mother plant out front looks like it is forming more seed again, so stay tuned for trial #2, if the seed doesn't abort before maturing/ ripening.

Just past germination stage progress. Notice the second seedlings next to the biggest 2 plants:



**Seed #3 w/ emerging 2nd seedling.  Let the stick next to it be your guide, lol.



Couple closer-ups of the biggest seedlings for emphasis on how Cordia seedlings look when they emerge, for those not often familiar w/ this group of shrubs/ trees. No doubt there may be other, un-related tree species whose Cotyledons can look similar.

[teddytn]

14 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Quick update:

After watching over these little buggers, appears 4 out of 6 seeds will be the total germinated from this test.. Which, if my already shoddy math is correct, works out to roughly 70% for this batch.

While i've had it occur w/ the other Cordia sp. i have started from seed, wasn't sure if C. parvifolia followed the same " Individual seeds can contain 1- 3 Embryos ( typical is 2 ) " rule. Looks like this species follows it to a T w/ 3 out of the 4 that germinated producing ( or in the process of producing.. ** = picture with emerging second seedling ) 2 seedlings. 

As for the two seeds that didn't germinate?,, appears the embryos were duds.. Something that is to be expected when growing seed batches of pretty much any plant. Anyway, a few pictures of how those that made it are progressing. For me, here, this is a critical stage. While i've been able to get numerous things i have germinated up and going, the dry air here as we head into summer likes to knock out youngsters at about this size. We'll see what happens.

Mother plant out front looks like it is forming more seed again, so stay tuned for trial #2, if the seed doesn't abort before maturing/ ripening.

Just past germination stage progress. Notice the second seedlings next to the biggest 2 plants:



**Seed #3 w/ emerging 2nd seedling.  Let the stick next to it be your guide, lol.



Couple closer-ups of the biggest seedlings for emphasis on how Cordia seedlings look when they emerge, for those not often familiar w/ this group of shrubs/ trees. No doubt there may be other, un-related tree species whose Cotyledons can look similar.

Scientist level 8 at least