Hello all! I´m new here and have a special interest. For many years I´m searching for some seeds of Chrysolepis chrysophylla var. chrysophylla. A member of the Scottish Rock Garden Forum told me to post here. Maybe I will be successful. So, does anyone here have some seeds of this beautyful plant or can collect seeds after ripening or knows a source? I only found a source for Chrysolepis sempervirens. The little seedlings are doing well at their winterplace indoors. I´m only missing Chrysolepis chrysophylla...
Thank you for your immediate reply. I tried to contact Freshwater Farms last spring more than one time, but got no answer. Besides, all nurseries or suppliers did not mail back to me; one informed me I had to wait until autumn, then the local deer hunters would try to collect some seeds from grooves not far away. I contacted at the beginning of autumn and again six weeks later only to be told that "the corridor of six weeks deer hunting was missed". That´s my expierience with nurseries and seed suppliers.
Sean Hogan at Cistus Nursery near Portland is a frequent visitor (and I believe sometimes seed collector) to the Siskiyous , you may wish to contact him directly.
Seeds within heavily armed burrs said to be short-lived, you would definitely want fresh ones at right time. Species reproduces on exposed soils where the burrs might be buried by moving earth before the seeds deteriorated.
To Daniel: Thank you for the hint. I will try it. To Ron: Yes, fresh seeds will be best. Could you collect some seeds at the right time? Are the burrs more ´thorny` than those of our native Castanea sativa?
The burrs are murder but more importantly I am seldom near any, species is found mostly south of my area. And cropping is cyclic, with good numbers not seen every year.
To Ron: I read that the seeds need very long until they are fully developed... some 18 months or so...
That's correct; pollination occurs in spring, and the seeds are ripe in the autumn a year and a half later. In this, it is similar to some oaks, e.g. Quercus rubra, Quercus cerris.
