Re: Sinkers and Floaters
- To: propagation@mallorn.com
- Subject: Re: Sinkers and Floaters
- From: p*
- Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 15:56:57 +0100
In seeds of woody plants especially there can be a very thick
woody wall surrounding the seed with a relativly small embryo
inside. A seed like this will often float but still be viable. A good
example of this is Acer maximoczianum(nikoense) (please excuse
any spelling mistake in the specific name) A mature dried seed will
still float even after spending a long time in water because the wall
form a tight seal.
In 'The Manual of Woody Plant Propagation' by Dirr and
Heuser., emphasis is placed on doing 'cut tests' to determine the
percentage viability of any sample of seed. For normal uses this
would mean cutting the seed through to see if there is any healthy/
living tissue.
With some some this may be difficult for various reasons. In these
cases an acid is available which changes color when in contact
with living tissue.(Sorry, I don't have the book in front of me right
now and I don't remember the name.) But this is a specialised
technique which is unecessary for most uses.
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