Dicromantispa interrupta

Dicromantispa interrupta
Mantisfly

Friday, February 15, 2013

Torreya 2011 Seeds – 9 of 10 Sprout



As mentioned in my On Rappel blog dated January 8 (onrappel.blogspot.com/2013/01/2011-torreya-seed-germination-second.html), I have enjoyed excellent success at germinating 2011 seeds of Florida Torreya trees, Torreya taxifolia. Since then I have learned that other Torreya Guardians have also had relatively high germination rates with the 2011 seeds, with one fellow getting 100% germination success! Then a few days ago, a ninth seed of my ten germinated:


The photo below shows six of the nine at their current height of 3 to 4 inches. Each pot has two seedlings, one of which sprouted in the summer of 2012 and a second that sprouted during the current mid-winter. Judging by their robustness, the winter sprouts are evidently doing as well as the summer seedlings. This dispels an earlier concern; nonetheless, I will protect them when frost is forecast during the remainder of the winter.


2 comments:

  1. hi. thanks for the great blog. i'll be visiting Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek park soon from New Hampshire and was hoping you could give me specifics (certain areas, time of day, etc.) on finding herps. i'm hoping to see a pygmy rattler but pretty much anything will be great b/c i'm used to just garters.
    -- kyle

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  2. Kyle
    I know noting about that particular park. It is doubtful that you will see many, if any, snakes this time of year even in Florida, altho it might be warmer there than here and thus more snakey. Some lizards should be out and about at mid-day. Salamanders have become very difficult to find in FL any more due to introductions of exotics like feral hogs and armadillos. They were never common, but the exotics have further decimated them. Four-toed salamanders can, however, be caught by placing an aquarium net under a mini-waterfall in a small riffle-and-pool stream overnight. Your best bet is to walk the edges of wetlands for pygmy rattlers, sneak up on wetland water holes for moccasins and water snakes, and go out at night to marshy wetlands with a headlight to triangulate and see winter-breeding frogs like chorus frogs and the spring peeper. Check with local gardening friends for captures of amphisbaenids. If you have a stout dipnet, use it on floating mats of hyacinths and water lettuce to capture all manner of fish and herps that seek veg roots for cover and invertebrate prey. Turtles will sun themselves at edges of lakes and streams if, and only if, the air temperature is higher than the water's temp. Good luck!

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