How to tell when female cones are receptive?

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 11:44 am

Have a Zamia floridana (wide leaf, "Palatka Giant") coning, does anyone know how to tell when the cone will be receptive to pollen?
(and does anyone have any pollen?

Steve

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:39 pm

Well done, Steve! Gorgeous cycad.

Sounds like a drop of liquid is the clue to readiness:
second paragraph here:
http://books.google.ca/books?id=Cqor3as ... ve&f=false

By the way, can pollen survive sub-freezing shipping temperatures?
Barb

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:11 pm

Barb,
Thanks for the link! I have about 20 packages of Zamia vazquezii pollen in my deep freeze.
Here's the article that explains the procedure http://www.plantapalm.com/vce/horticulture/pollen.htm

Not sure if I can cross them, but good practice if nothing else

Steve

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:15 pm

Hi Steve,

You might want to try posting this one on PalmTalk, I believe there is a small group of people on there who have/exchange cycad pollen!

Cameron.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:36 pm

Also, recall reading on RPS that they buy pollen...

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 7:01 am

Cameron, Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out.

Barb, These are common, probably not much of a market.
One of my goals has been to get a couple of small breeding colonies going. A couple more new plants this season and I should be just about there

Steve

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 7:09 am

In order to keep cross-pollination and hybridization occurring, do you have to isolate cycad species in separate areas?

virtualpalm · Post by **virtualpalm** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 3:55 pm

Knnn wrote:Have a Zamia floridana (wide leaf, "Palatka Giant") coning, does anyone know how to tell when the cone will be receptive to pollen?
(and does anyone have any pollen?

Steve

Steve, my Palatka Giants are coning now as well. One of my males has two elongating cones that should be dropping pollen in the next day or two.

I would be happy to collect some pollen, dry it, and send it to you. Sending fresh pollen to a cold climate this time of year would not be good, but if it is dried the cold will not affect it.

As for determining when the cone is receptive, the macrosporophylls (cone scales) will crack open revealing spaces betwteen them -- like in the photo below.

I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. I took them with my iPhone in the dark just now. If you want better photos of a receptive cone I'll try to get a better one tomorrow.

Jody

virtualpalm · Post by **virtualpalm** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 3:56 pm

Knnn wrote:Cameron, Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out.

Barb, These are common, probably not much of a market.
One of my goals has been to get a couple of small breeding colonies going. A couple more new plants this season and I should be just about there

Steve

Actually, the true Palatka Giant coonties are not that common. I am happy to hear that you are building some breeding colonies.

Jody

virtualpalm · Post by **virtualpalm** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:02 pm

lucky1 wrote:In order to keep cross-pollination and hybridization occurring, do you have to isolate cycad species in separate areas?

You would only need to isolate plants in areas that have natural pollinators, and even then you would have to go to pretty extreme lengths to prevent the natural pollinators from getting to the female cones. Here in south Florida we have the natural pollinator of the coontie that is native to here as well as the pollinator of Zamia furfuracea from Mexico that came in on wild-collected plants many years ago. Thus, it would not be a good idea to try to build breeding colonies of Caribbean or Mexican zamias in this area. People in South Africa have similar problems with cross-pollination in various Enephalartos species.

As a side note, the Zamia pollinator from Mexico also pollinates cones of Dioon spinulosum on occasion here in south Florida.

Jody

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:42 pm

So the pollinator would likely create a hybrid between Dioons and Zamia? or not between species.

I can imagine a whole bunch of eye-popping hybrids...tall Z. spinulosum ?

Barb

virtualpalm · Post by **virtualpalm** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 5:18 pm

lucky1 wrote:So the pollinator would likely create a hybrid between Dioons and Zamia? or not between species.

I can imagine a whole bunch of eye-popping hybrids...tall Z. spinulosum ?

Barb

Hybrids between species, yes, but not between genera... sorry!

Jody

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 8:31 pm

Well, I tried

Thanks Jody.

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 6:57 am

Jody, Great info and photos, now I know what to look for!
Thanks too for the pollen offer, sent you a PM.

Steve

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 7:10 am

Steve
Keep the camera nearby for the process please.
Barb

virtualpalm · Post by **virtualpalm** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 9:03 am

Here are a couple new photos from today. I harvested these two male cones.

Jody

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 9:52 am

Spectacular photos, Steve.
They look like they're glowing

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 6:30 am

Jody, Great looking male/female cones

Barb, I'll get some photos as I attempt this....
(Think I've reached my upload limit on Flickr, need to wait until it resets

Steve

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 7:50 am

Sorry! Great pics Jody.

Steve, there's no limit on a paid Flickr "pro" account (unless that's changed since Yahoo bought them).
Flickr had some burps recently, might be that.

Barb

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 4:25 pm

Barb, I'm back to the "free" account

Jody's photos are a great comparison of the characteristics between male/female cones.

Steve

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 5:25 pm

The picture makes the cones resemble garden lights...

great comparison of the characteristics between male/female cones.

Certainly is...now if you two could get those plants in the same area...harvest of viable seeds.

Barb

virtualpalm · Post by **virtualpalm** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 7:59 pm

Barb, I think I mentioned in a previous post that my female sets seeds naturally almost every year. The native coontie pollinator does the work for me, and since I don't have any other Caribbean zamias in my yard that cone at the same time and there aren't any other zamias anywhere in my neighborhood that I know of, I am pretty confident that the seeds are pure Palatka Giant even though they are open pollinated. If anyone is interested in seeds from the female cones in the photo, feel free to contact me toward the end of this year and I'll let you know about this year's seed set.

Jody

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 9:07 am

I'm certain there's a ready market for those, Jody.
RPS is likely waiting at your door...

Good luck with them.
Barb

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Wed Jun 01, 2011 7:49 am

Just a follow up...................

The weather turned cold after the cone emerged, and it was at least another 6-8 weeks before it became receptive.

Thanks to Jody for sending me pollen! Applied 3 times using a brush every other day.

The cone has since closed and seems to be growing in size, so hopefully success?

Steve

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Jun 01, 2011 1:13 pm

Wow, Steve, congratulations.

A swelling cone probably means gestation? (or whatever it's called)

It'll be neat to see what happens next and when.

Barb

virtualpalm · Post by **virtualpalm** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:07 pm

Steve, I wish you luck with your pollination. However, without the pollen being injected into the inside of the cone, the chances are pretty slim. I use the wet method on all zamias, simply suspending the pollen in a small amount of purified water and injecting the liquid into the spaces between scales with a curved-ended syringe. Hopefully there was enough air movement (or possibly insect movement) to carry some of the pollen into the cone.

Jody

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:25 am

Barb, This is all new to me too, I think something is happening, not sure what

Jody, I noticed as the cone became fully receptive it opened on the top and bottom. Seemed like an open invitation for pollinators to crawl through.
Had a little bit of pollen left over that I did mix with water and inject into the top of the cone.
Whether successful or not, this has been a great learning experience

Steve

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 10:18 am

Intricate details.
Mother Nature's got it all figured out.

Good that you're hedging your bets Steve.
One of the two methods will surely succeed.

Looking forward to updates.
Barb

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 5:25 pm

Here's a recent photo,

Also noticed a cone emerging on a Zamia sp. "Mexico", started these from seed about 4 years ago.

Steve

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:40 pm

Good to see yours respond, Steve, with all your heat (and water).

Mine are croaking.

Barb

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:59 pm

Not too much longer now, seeds are just about ready

Steve

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:15 pm

Incredible beauty that Mother Nature creates!

At first glance, Steve, those cones always remind me of lava erupting from a volcano.

How's your pollen storage project going?

Barb

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 8:27 am

Hi Barb,

I'm happy to see the results!
Have plenty of Zamia vazquezii pollen in the freezer, now all I need is a female plant

Steve

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 2:12 pm

Here's the results, 30 seeds from the single cone

Steve

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 2:30 pm

Beautiful seeds, Steve.

Since I didn't pay much attention in Botany (or Biology for that matter), the progeny would be F1 hybrids?
And how would you "write" the name of the seedlings?

Barb

chumleycycads.com · Post by **chumleycycads.com** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 7:19 pm

Looks familiar.

PalmsNorth.com

How to tell when female cones are receptive?

How to tell when female cones are receptive?

Re: How to tell when female cones are receptive?

Zamia