Scoliopus

diana chapman rarebulbs@earthlink.net
Fri, 30 Jan 2004 08:14:01 PST
Hi Mary Sue:

I, too, have had trouble growing Scoliopus bigelovii, even though it grows
happily probably less than a mile from here.  I have started seed
repeatedly, only to have seedlings overgrown with moss and liverworts (a
question for the forum:  how to control moss and liverworts in seed pots?).
I have the same problem with Clintonia.  The conventional wisdom with both
of these plants is that it takes up to ten years from seed to produce a
blooming plant!  They certainly are not fast.  Seed of Scoliopus should be
fresh, and is extremely difficult to collect.  The flower stem turns toward
the ground as the seed pod matures, and by the time the seed ripens it is
lying on the damp soil, where ants tear open the pods and carry off the
seeds.  The seeds look like the pupae of ants, so maybe that's an adaptation
to get ants to carry them into their nests.  Seed can only take a little
drying, so it does not store well.

Diana
Telos




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