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RE: "lotus" seeds?
Not necessarily, Karen. Hard seedcoats are relatively easy to stratify with
a tumbling machine, if done in quantity. Basically like polishing rocks.
Once the seed coat is worn down, water is able to penetrate to the seed
inside and dormancy is broken. This is done with a lot of things like oaks
and lupins in commercial nurseries.
Brett Johnson
Green Man Gardens
bnbjohns at home_com
Date: Sat, 06 May 2000 05:25:10 -0400
From: Karen Randall <krandall at world_std.com>
Subject: "lotus" seeds?
Paul K wrote:
>If the self-fertilizing is successful,
>it might take a long time for the seeds to develop. The seeds should be
>about the size of peas and have a very hard seed coat. The seed coat must
>be cut or "scarified" with a knife to get germination. I read somewhere
>that lotus seeds can stay dormant for many years if the seed coat is left
>intact. I think I recall reading that Lotus seeds hold the record for
>longevity in seeds.
Isn't this talking about "real" lotus - Nelumbo sp.? What we call "lotus"in
the aquarium are really water lilies, Nymphaea sp. Claus told me that
all 'Zenkeri' are produced from seed. (which is why there is a fair amount
of variation among the plants) Of course that doesn't mean they're self
fertile, but it would seem unlikely that the seed is that hard to sprout if
that's the way they're produced commercially.
Karen