Snowdrop Seed 2017

[johnw]

I have been cleaning Galanthus seed for the past two weeks.  I was in the greenhouse today and spied this pod which I had inadvertently left on a pot sitting on the floor.  I've been meaning to retrieve it the week long but today half the pod and all the seeds are gone.  My guess a slug is to blame but no telltale slime path, would it eat the seeds as well?  This is the exact position in which I found it. Have a close look.

It's been a bumper year for seed production, why I have no idea as the spring weather was terrible.  The big producers from relatively few pods were:

G. plicatus 'Trym' - I believe from 4 pods unless Ken had already cleaned seed & placed in the packet as seems a high count -  68 seeds

G. plicatus tramp - 50+

G. elwesii v Whittalii ex Foxgrove - 42 seeds

G. plic 'E. Harrison' & G. elwesii 'Don Armstrong' - 19 each; 1 seed of 1 of EH sprouted last yr.

G. lagodechianus which had never flowered before, Ken's garden  - 17 seeds.

Not cleaned but prolific G. plic 'Wendy's Gold', pllc  'Upcher' and G. 'Bess' - 30+ range

john

[Gabriela]

Hi John,
Snails are known to be attracted and eat seeds w elaiosomes (found them on Sanguinaria seeds pods) also voles and recently I saw a chipmunk in the garden waiting beneath a Stylophorum to catch seeds that were falling from the capsules.
Better not to leave the capsules sitting around...

[johnw]

Hi John,
Snails are known to be attracted and eat seeds w elaiosomes (found them on Sanguinaria seeds pods) also voles and recently I saw a chipmunk in the garden waiting beneath a Stylophorum to catch seeds that were falling from the capsules. Better not to leave the capsules sitting around...

Thanks Gabriela.  Will the slug pass the seed or fully digest it?

BTW no sign if Arisaema franchetianum 'Hugo'. Is yours up yet?  Tony Avent in NC says his emerges in late June so where does that leave us, September?

john

[Gabriela]

Thanks Gabriela.  Will the slug pass the seed or fully digest it?

BTW no sign if Arisaema franchetianum 'Hugo'. Is yours up yet?  Tony Avent in NC says his emerges in late June so where does that leave us, September?
john

In few articles I've read about seeds dispersal by slugs they said they pass the seeds and usually seedlings will show not very far away...

Hugo it's not up and I check it last week, just sits there doing nothing The bud looks OK but no roots are growing. Few other Arisaemas I planted in the ground are not a show as well. I think they can just take a 'sabbatical' if they feel like doing it?

[Alan_b]

Snowdrop seeds are supposed to be attractive to ants.  But you might expect that they would be more careful, removing the seeds but leaving the whole pod intact.  On the other hand, slugs and snails often leave behind a trail of slime indicating where they have been.

[ashley]

... recently I saw a chipmunk in the garden waiting beneath a Stylophorum to catch seeds that were falling from the capsules.

Tangential to this thread but how would you recommend storing Stylophorum seed Gabriela?

Question answered: store moist.