Re: Seeds from "Snow Gum"

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• To: j*@tiny.mech.eng.usyd.edu.au, m*@ucdavis.edu
• Subject: Re: Seeds from "Snow Gum"
• From: s*@freenet.victoria.bc.ca (Gary Shearman)
• Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 21:57:47 -0800

A gentleman here in Victoria, B.C. Canada who has made quite a study of
Eucalyptus hardiness in our conditions (Zone 8 - short summer
Mediterranean) claims that the true E pauciflora subspecies niphophylla
from the mountains (beware of sloppy seed collecting, says he) is one of
about 3 really reliable Eucalypts here.  Some others, often claimed to be
hardy, are prone to being cut to the ground in our occasional Arctic
outbreaks.


At 12:33 PM 11/4/97, John Atkinson wrote:
>At 08:00 AM 11/3/97 -0500, Matt Trahan wrote:
>
>> I was given 9 pinhead size seeds that a friend said was from Snow Gum or
>>(their spelling) Eucalyptus Niphophylla.
>
>Current nomencluture is E pauciflora subspecies niphophylla, I believe. (Not
>sure of the spelling either!)
>
>> He also mentioned that it would be
>>nice if he could figure out how to germinate them.  sigh.
>>SGAP mention several suggestions from fire to smoke water to simple
>>abration.
>
>No!!  Snowgums grow at high altitudes and don't usually have to worry about
>bushfires.  (When they do get one, they suffer badly.)  And abrasion, though
>appropriate for many Australian plants, is not for eucalypts and other
>Myrtaceae -- their seeds don't have a hard coating and are too small anyway.
>
>>Could anyone suggest which would be the correct method or combination?
>
>Snowgums drop their seeds in autumn but (unlike many eucalypts) they do not
>germinate till the following spring.  Apparently a period of below-freezing
>temperatures is necessary to get them started.  I believe that experiments
>have shown that storing them at low temperatures for several weeks does in
>fact improve germination very markedly.
>
>> I live in USDA zone 8, min temps 13-18 degrees farenheight. Should I
>>consider doing this outside? Our temps are running 55-70 highs and 35-50
>>lows right now. Should have first frost any day now.
>
>I think you could well plant them now in little pots outside and expect them
>to germinate in the spring.  Alternatively, put them in the freezer for a
>while and plant them when it's starting to warm up again.  If you've only
>got 9 seeds, the latter would be safer I think.
>
>Good luck
>
>John

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