A mystery. In late May I had a few lots of seed soaking prior to planting. I had been procrastinating the task for a couple days for some unknown reason, and suddenly one morning I decided they needed to be taken care of immediately or the viability would decrease. So one morning before work I threw them into community pots and left, thinking I would label them when I got home. I did not. After a couple days I couldn't remember which was which, but vaguely thought I should be able to identify them by their leaves if they came up.
This week this seedling appeared. You can't see it in the photo, but there are two other small sprouts coming up too. I was very confused when I saw the shape of them. I thought everything I had planted was passifloras. Despite the variety in the genus Passiflora in regards to leaf shape and markings, so far all the species I have grown have been quite homogeneous in cotyledon morphology. This was not it. Looking closer I realized they also were not cotyledons.
I sorted through all my seed containers (twice) for inspiration but found none. After a couple days it finally hit me - while in Florida I had collected some fruits off of a Suriname Cherry tree. Three, in fact, equaling the number of seedlings showing. They had single, nut like seeds inside. After digging around in the pot near one seedling I found that same nut nestled in the soil.
Hey, they grew! Mystery solved.
I have grown other seeds (such as from mangoes) that have not shown cotyledons above the soil, but never anything this small. The nuts were hardly larger than a peanut. I wonder why there is this difference in habit from the typical seed.
I'm pretty sure the other pot contains Passiflora lutea, which are also germinating.
Anyhow, I will now resolve to always take the 60 seconds to make a label. Um...lets hope I don't slip up again.
1 comment:
Cool! Cherry trees of whatever kind are awesome. I have a large weeping cherry in my backyard, it is gorgeous for about a week in the Spring.
btw, if you are reaaaaalllllyyyy bored, you might enjoy checking out my blog, www.xanga.com/swamprad But be warned, it is usually nowhere near as interesting as your blogs, typically the high point is what I had for dinner. But xanga is a community. I have made many close friends there. I went through a "bump in the road" (as my father says) 2 years ago, and the support from my xanga friends meant more than I can say. Hope you guys have a great weekend!
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