Re: [The Seed Exchange] - Scarifying seeds with a dremel tool

This is off subject a bit, but I seem to remember reading somewhere about an 
endangered tree species on the island of Mauritius.  It was not reproducing 
at all, in the wild.  In attempting to propagate it, they discovered that its 
seeds have a particularly thick coat that has to be filed down with a rasp 
before they are able to germinate.  As the youngest remaining specimens of 
the tree in the wild date to around the time of the extinction of the Dodo, 
it is believed that the tree evolved along with, and was dependent upon, the 
Dodo.  The Dodo's digestive system apparently provided the "scarifying" that 
the seeds needed in order to germinate.  Has anyone else heard this story, or 
is it just a myth?

Thanks.

Kurt Mize
Stockton, California
A very HOT and smoggy USDA Zone 9
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