Kelly Schultz Native Seed Nursery Coordinator, LCFPD
Getting Started: Get Permission Land-owner INPC ETR
Getting Started: Sustainable Collecting Don t take 100% Most perennials < 50% ETR, annual, biennial = 10% Use different sources Different variations, genetics, ecological adaptations Give your source a break
Getting Started: When to Collect? Packard, Houseseal, Cullina Commercial Seed Vendors: pictures of cleaned seed, blooming time (end), #seeds per ounce prairiemoon.com
Getting Started: Tools Cut & Hold pruners Regular pruners + tree bags Nut gatherer http://www.forestrytools.com http://www.ebay.com http://www.leevalley.com
Getting Started: Paper or Plastic?
Getting Started: Dress for Success http://songoftheroad.com
Velcro Seeds Species we don t need to collect Bidens Circaea Hackelia www.minnesotawildflowers.info
Velcro Seeds Species to collect wwn.inhs.illinois.edu Desmodium Agrimonia https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info Seeds are ripe when they strip easily off of the stem. Sometimes color 9
Coneheads: Echinacea, Susans Echinacea www.minnesotawildflowers.info The sunflower family in the Upper Midwest By Antonio & Masi Rudbeckia Seeds are ripe when all color is gone. Snip the heads
Crumbly Coneheads Ratibida Dalea Seeds are ripe when the heads are crumbly. Strip and crumble by hand
Coneheads: Sunflowers & Sisters Helianthus Heliopsis, Silphium Silphium
Composites
Composites Seeds are ripe when seeds & heads are brown. *Birds like these seeds.* If seeds are brown, you can collect even if the head isn t completely brown.
Shakers: beaks www.michigannatureguy.com Dodecatheon Chelone Illinoiswildflowers.info Penstemon http://dupage.wildones.org
Veronicastrum Shakers: beaks 800,000 seeds/ounce www.minnesotawildflowers.info Seeds are ripe when beaks open up. Usually a color change in the capsule
Salt Shakers Campanula Lobelia Seeds are ripe when: Pod changes color and disintegrates
Shakers: mints Tubes and cups Wikipedia.org Monarda Pycnanthemum
Shakers: mints Tubes and cups Wikipedia.org Physostegia Seeds are ripe when seeds easily fall out of tubes; for cups, look for brown seeds. Usually a color change
Fluffy Seeds Tough to ID Asters & goldenrods, Liatris, Joe Pye weed, Wild lettuce, Indian plantain, Cirsium, Antennaria, Senecio (non-milkweed) fluff = Composite family Seeds are ripe when they are poofed & easily fall off the stem. You can usually collect stems when petals have dropped; fluff is visible, but not fully poofed out. Leave in a paper bag to finish poofing
Milkweeds Syriaca & sullivantii Illinoiswildflowers.info A. sullivantii A. syriaca http://wisflora.herbarium.wisc.edu
Milkweeds Tuberosa & incarnata A. tuberosa www.minnesotawildflowers.info A. incarnata http://wisflora.herbarium.wisc.edu
Milkweeds Other spp Pods on vines Seeds are ripe when pods are split & seeds are brown. Ignore pod color
Milkweeds: cleaning the seed Clean early Monarch Watch milkweed separator Through the roof Carefully No fire! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdv8ulx1wio http://prairieecologist.com/2012/04/12/testingassumptions-the-milkweed-seed-fiasco/
Ballistic Geranium, Viola, Phlox, Smithsonian seed video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsiojj4pzao Ruellia, Ceanothus, Euphorbia, some legumes, some mustards Tough to get the timing right = $$$ to buy Mesh hoods Pick me! Pick me! Viola Geranium Seeds are ripe when pods change color, size, and/or position. Observe seed sequence, and collect one stage prior to catapulting. Or cover (after petals drop) with mesh.
Mama s Boys MB Coneheads Parsley family: Zizia, Cicuta, Oxypolis, Sium, Heracleum Zizia Oxypolis Seeds are ripe when they strip easily off of the stem. Sometimes color
Mama s Boys Lily family: Allium, Iris, Lilium Some legumes: Baptisia, Senna Iris Lilium Allium Seeds are ripe when they strip easily off of the stem or color change. Some of these are beaks Baptisia
Mama s Boys: Graminoids Grasses, sedges, rushes, etc. Tough to ID, but best time to ID is in seed www.minnesotawildflowers.info Cyperus Wetland sedge spp mix No nut sedge http://www.clemson.edu Pretty much every other sedge-y wetland species is useful to collect in a spp mix Seeds are ripe when: they strip easily off of the stem. Sometimes color
Berries & Nuts Tasty seeds! (wildlife competition) Nuts: lots of seed predators Ant-dispersed: elaiosomes Store & clean properly Sanguinaria Actaea Quercus http://www.extension.umn.edu
Spring-flowering Species For most seeds that ripen mid-june or earlier: Often do not change color; touch test only Seed can drop completely in less than a week Difficult to judge timing Typically need to check 2-3x per week Shatters in place; ant-dispersed; ballistic Thalictrum dioicum vs. T. dasycarpum (ripens early June) (ripens in fall) Seed is intolerant of dry storage Seed is naturally scattered promptly into compost (ants), or onto moist soil during a season of frequent precipitation. Many of these species grow in woodlands (shadier, cooler, moister) Lay out to *briefly* dry (24 hours 3 days). Then sow seed immediately or seal in a plastic container in the refrigerator. Recommended only for patient people!
Questions? Kelly Schultz kschultz@lcfpd.org Office: 847/223-0651