Hyphaene thebaica seeds

[Zeeth]

I collected some Hyphaene thebaica seed while in Ft. Myers, and nothing has happened yet. They seem to have a weird, dry pulpy inside, and I opened one and nothing was inside... I didn't want to take the risk with the others, so I haven't opened any more yet. What the heck is up with these seeds? They seem really weird.. Here's a pic

[Peter Pacific]

I collected some Hyphaene thebaica seed while in Ft. Myers, and nothing has happened yet. They seem to have a weird, dry pulpy inside, and I opened one and nothing was inside... I didn't want to take the risk with the others, so I haven't opened any more yet. What the heck is up with these seeds? They seem really weird.. Here's a pic

Hi Keith, I collected some seeds from the Hyphaene thebaica in Ft. Myers, downtown near the yacht basin, when I was there this past October. No luck at all. I did read that fascinating post about delidding old palm seeds, hmmmm!!! Maybe it's worth a try! Peter

[Zeeth]

Ha, we collected from the same tree.

[Peter Pacific]

Does that make us in-laws or something? Peter

[Zeeth]

Something like that I think

Is this a dioecious species? Maybe there isn't a male palm in the area to pollinate the tree?

[Peter Pacific]

Yes, Keith, it is dioecious, sorry to say! Peter

[Zeeth]

Aah! Darn, that's why we weren't getting germinations...

Oh well, I'd rather try a Medemia argun anyway, now I just have to wait until RPS has some fresh seed...

When you were at that park, did you see that tall Dictyosperma dying of LY? It was huge, so it must have been pretty old, and it just flat out died. Makes me glad LY isn't prominent in my area. There is another fusarium species killing the native palmetto though, which is scary. I's say 1 in every 50 trees is affected by it so far, but the number is increasing rapidly.

[FRITO]

I have too collected seed from this same tree, so has Meg in Cape Coral I know.

Hyphaene is a dioecious genus(males and females are separate palms), and its the only one in the area. The is one a couple miles away on Mcgregor at the Edison/Ford estate. I do not know if it is a male or not.

here what a seed is suppose to look like after you get through all that pulp.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/214694/

edit: I am too slow to post you guys figured it out.

Edited February 20, 2010 by FRITO

[Zeeth]

The seed pic helped actually. I cleaned it and it kind of looked like that, so i'll give it a try, but I won't expect anything.

[FRITO]

Zeeth,

My friend told me he saw the guys removing the Princess palms! I was shocked and couldnt believe it.

the last time I saw them I took these photos. Those palms were some of my favorites!!

[Zeeth]

They looked really nice, it's too bad. When I got there, one was a stump and the other had 1 leaf. I just assumed at the time that they had gotten sick, and it wasn't until I read that they are very LY susceptible that I realized they had contracted the disease. I have never seen a case of LY in my county (only texas phoenix palm decline on Sabal palmetto and Phoenix sylvestris) so I think the chills in winters keep me safe. There is a zone close to the coast that is warm enough for the disease, but in the spot between where coconuts don't grow because of cold and where LY may attack the coconuts, you can grow Jamaican talls without fear of death by cold or LY.

[cfkingfish]

It looks like you have a pseudoseed there, Hyphaene and friends are known for their females putting out fruit that are not pollinated.

Keith, if you want Medemia seed, I can bring some up to you next time I ride past your exit.

[Zeeth]

Christian, I think that's what's happening with this guy, that's why so many people are collecting seeds with no results.

Some Medemia seed would be really nice actually! I'll PM you my address so you can find the house

Keith