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

Kurt
You probably read this in 'The Song of the Dodo' by David Quamen, a copy
of which I have in front of me. The tree concerned is Calcvaria major,
but Quamen's book treats the story as apocriphal. To quote: The story of
the Calvaria Tree and the Dodo is equally neat (to the Barro Colorado
story of bird and plant extinctions, also examined in the same book)
though far more dubious.
The discussion is on pages 344-348 in my paperback copy of the book.
Hope this helps a little
Peter Lewis,  Cambridge UK

K1MIZE@aol.com wrote:
> 
> 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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