Tag: Seed of the Week (Page 35 of 142)

Seed of the Week: Cyclamen

Our mystery seeds from last week were from a cyclamen flower, genus Cyclamen.

cyclamen-flower-1Cyclamens are known for their brightly colored flowers with petals that sweep upwards.

They are grown as houseplants and ornamentals throughout the world, but are native to the regions around the Mediterranean Sea.

 

cyclamen-plantUsually they are grown from tubers, but the flowers do produce fruit in the form of seed pods that contains brown, sticky seeds.

mystery-seed-203-seed-pod-2The stems of the plant coil in a very unusual way, bringing the seed pods down to the ground. You can see bits of the coiled stem in the photograph above.

There is a better photograph of the seed pods at Wikimedia. Notice the seeds on the ground at the left.

According to what I read, the seeds are often picked up and dispersed by ants.

Have you ever grown cyclamen plants?

Mystery Seed of the Week 203

 

Our mystery seeds today don’t look much like seeds.

mystery-seeds-203They look like raisins or bits of dirt.

mystery-seed-203-seed-pod-2The seeds where in a cluster in a pod, which has fallen apart a bit. Those curved bits might be part of the story, as well. Hint: these do not occur naturally in Arizona.

Do you recognize what plant these seeds are from? If you choose to, please leave a comment with your ideas.

New mystery seeds and Seed of the Week answers are posted on Tuesdays.

Edit:  The answer is now posted.

Seed of the Week: Canyon Hackberry

Anna correctly identified our mystery seeds from last week as being from a hackberry tree. These particular seeds came from the netleaf or canyon hackberry, Celtis reticulata.

Canyon hackberries are found along streams, washes, and in canyons throughout the West.

canyon-hackberry-tree

They are for the most part shrubby, small trees.

hackberry-knobby-barkThe bark on the trunk is often covered with warty knobs and ridges.

hackberry-branch-with-berriesThe branches can be droopy.

hackberry-leaf-veinsThe leaves, however, are quite striking.

hackberry-leaves-close-betterThe tree gets its common name “netleaf” from the prominent veins in the leaves.

There are also netlike ridges on hackberry seeds, which is one way to recognize them.

canyon-hackberry-drupesThe fruit are red-orange drupes that when ripe are a favorite of birds, which is why people grow them in landscapes.

Another good reason to grow netleaf hackberry trees is that they are the larval food of the hackberry emperor butterfly, Asterocampa celtis.

What kinds of hackberry trees grow where you live? What do you think of them?

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