Tag: Seed of the Week (Page 4 of 142)

Mystery Seed of the Week 254

 This week’s featured seeds come in some very tough packaging.

mystery-seed-254Outside is a pod enclosing several seeds. Within the pod are the seeds sealed into another layer of wrapping, which is extremely difficult to remove. In fact, this one was from a parking lot where it had been run over by cars, and the seed is still in its package.

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

Edit:  The answer is now posted.

Mystery Seed answers and new Mystery Seeds are posted on Tuesdays.

Seed of the Week: Red Maple

Our mystery “seeds” from last week were from a red maple, Acer rubrum.

red maple seedsThe word “seeds” is in quotes because the winged maple keys are technically samaras. The seed itself is within the oval thickened part.

red-maple-leaves-465Red maples are common deciduous trees found throughout eastern North America. The leaves often turn brilliant red in the fall.

The leaves of the red maple vary, with three-to-five lobed varieties.

Acer_rubrum-3-lobed(Public domain photograph of three-lobed red maple leaves from Wikimedia.)

five-lobed-red-Maple_Leaf(Public domain photograph of five-lobed red maple leaf from Wikimedia).

The five-lobed red maple varieties closely resemble sugar maple leaves. The best way to distinguish them is that the the red maple leaves have V-shaped notch between the lobes, whereas the sugar maple leaves have rounded or U-shaped notches (see a photo of leaves of the two species side-by-side at Maine Nature News.)

red-maple-keys-461

Red maple seeds do grow from seeds, but may require scarification (scratching) to germinate.

Have you ever seen a red maple tree? Did it have three- or five-lobed leaves?

Mystery Seed of the Week 253

 

These seeds were a gift, but I’m afraid we won’t be able to grow them in our yard.

mystery-seed-253-2(The gray object is a grain of rice added for scale.)

Where might I plant them?

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

Mystery Seed answers and new Mystery Seeds are posted on Tuesdays.

Edit:  The answer is now posted.

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