Trident seeds dropping in May?

[Joe2758]

There are trident maples at 3 different locations around me dropping what seem to be fully ripe seeds? The outside are brown, inside green, and the trees by now have dropped about 75% of them.

As where, from what I read, red maples commonly do drop them in May. However, the red maple tree seeds here are still green and not ready to drop.

1. Do you think the trident seeds I planted will germinate? They are dropping off the tree, brown on the outside, green on the inside. They did not sink in water.

2. Should I dry store them and plant in fall?

3. Is it possible the ones I planted will germinate next year?

All the trident seeds I have germinated followed the standard stratification then plant in spring. I purchased them, so I don't know what the timing was.

I guess I figured, "why would they drop all the seeds if it wasn't the right time?"

Thanks

 

[SeanS]

What hemisphere are you in?

 

[ShadyStump]

Yeah, can't really tell you much without knowing where you are.
Adding a general location to your profile will help allot with questions like this.

 

[Shibui]

Trident seed generally matures in autumn but stays hanging on the trees here for much of the winter.
If seeds are dropping earlier than normal I can only assume some sort of stress - too dry, too hot, too windy, etc and the trees are shedding some of the load.
It's also possible the seeds that are dropping are infertile for some reason - lack of pollination in spring? and are aborting. It is common for all plants to abort fruits and seeds that are not viable. You can often check seed viability by slicing some open to check that there's a nice plump, white embryo inside.

If these seeds are not viable there's no way they will germinate, no matter how much you stratify.
Sometimes even viable seeds do not sink so floating test is not conclusive IMHO.

 

[Joe2758]

What hemisphere are you in?

Northern. I hear the seed helicopters spin clockwise in the southern.

 

[Joe2758]

Trident seed generally matures in autumn but stays hanging on the trees here for much of the winter.
If seeds are dropping earlier than normal I can only assume some sort of stress - too dry, too hot, too windy, etc and the trees are shedding some of the load.
It's also possible the seeds that are dropping are infertile for some reason - lack of pollination in spring? and are aborting. It is common for all plants to abort fruits and seeds that are not viable. You can often check seed viability by slicing some open to check that there's a nice plump, white embryo inside.

If these seeds are not viable there's no way they will germinate, no matter how much you stratify.
Sometimes even viable seeds do not sink so floating test is not conclusive IMHO.

That is very interesting. I opened some and saw they were green, but I didn't slice them open to see if it was white inside. Or does the seed being green mean it hasn't matured? Strange! Well the good news is I should be able to get a massive haul of cuttings since some of these are on my friend's new property.

 

[Joe2758]

Ok, so these germinated pretty much 100%. Does that necessarily mean the seeds were from last year, stayed on the tree all winter, and are just falling now? Or is something else still possible?

 

[BrightsideB]

Are you sure it is a trident maple? Show us a pic of the seedlings you just sprouted.

 

[ShadyStump]

Ok, so these germinated pretty much 100%. Does that necessarily mean the seeds were from last year, stayed on the tree all winter, and are just falling now? Or is something else still possible?

My guess is they're seeds still on the tree from last year. Keep an eye on the parent tree, and you should see it flowering before long. Not experience with tridents specifically, but most maples flower in early summer.

 

[Joe2758]

I can't say I'm sure. Here is some pictures of the sprouts and a couple parent trees

 

[Joe2758]

 

[rockm]

I have some doubt this is a trident maple. Leaves look like a red maple (acer rubrum) cultivar. Bark doesn't look like mature trident maple. More like red maple too. Red maple also drops seeds this time of year...

Acer rubrum L

 

[BrightsideB]

The cotyledons on the sprouts are wider. I’ve noticed thin longer cotyledons on trident sprouts. The leaves look much more like a rubrum. Acer leaves can be difficult to decipher when learning them all.

When I was looking to collect trident seeds I looked in fall for 10-15 ft maples with small leaves and tons of brown seeds. They are easier to spot during that time. If you look at that time you will find them I’m sure.

 

[Joe2758]

Well thanks for breaking it to me gently. I was happy because a good amount of my trident seedlings died from a cold snap (and more that i was waiting on never sprouted). Now that you mention it, the tridents i sprouted from purchased seeds did in fact have longer skinnier cotyledons.

Well this has been even more helpful then trying to figure out the timing of the seeds! I hope I didn't confuse any of my fellow beginners haha

As always, thanks so much

edit to add: Nice pots Brightside!!!

 

[BrightsideB]

Well thanks for breaking it to me gently. I was happy because a good amount of my trident seedlings died from a cold snap (and more that i was waiting on never sprouted). Now that you mention it, the tridents i sprouted from purchased seeds did in fact have longer skinnier cotyledons.

Well this has been even more helpful then trying to figure out the timing of the seeds! I hope I didn't confuse any of my fellow beginners haha

As always, thanks so much

edit to add: Nice pots Brightside!!!

Thank you! If you end up finding some tridents in fall. Try collecting from different tree’s. I collected from two locations and only one had viable seeds. I used to artificially stratify them in the fridge but found sowing them in a large grow bag or container beginning winter made things easier. Cuts down on time/duties and makes doing larger amounts of collected seed easier. Increasing your odds of success as well.

 

[Joe2758]

Hello, I was out of town and grabbed a couple handfuls of these (definitely) trident seeds. It is too early, but I thought it might be worth a try. Are the odds next to nothing that these will germinate in the spring after dormancy? Also, some have black specks...what is that?

 

[Shibui]

Your seeds look to be close to ripe so may be viable.
Embryos are generally OK well before the seeds mature so they can germinate. It seems the last thing to happen in seed development is storability and germination inhibitors so unripe seed generally won't store well but will usually germinate without the usual treatment.
In PA you'll probably need to store this seed until spring. It may last that long stored dry but I would hedge my bets by storing in the fridge or freezer until you sow in spring.
Not sure what the black specks are but would not worry too much.

 

[Joe2758]

store in fridge dry or moist? What do you think of dry in the fridge until march (3 months before i would want them to germinate) and then add moisture?

or maybe just stay dry the whole time?

 

[Shibui]

From trial here, fresh trident seed does not appear to require stratification to germinate so dry storage should be OK. In any case germination inhibitors seem to be the last things to be laid into developing seed. That means that seed harvested early will have less germination inhibitors and can often grow without normal seed treatment.
I have not had to store early harvest seed or germinate it but in theory, store dry in fridge until sowing time then sow as normal.
If you want to spread the risk, take some and stratify cool, damp and check relative germination between dry sored and stratified seed batches.

 

[Joe2758]

Thank you as always!