Hi there!
I am a graduate student doing work with sugar maples and unfortunately just found out that I have the funding to start a project. I'm looking for sugar maple seeds that have already been cold-stratified and are ready to go. I've tried calling nurseries, both commercial and state-run, as well as research centers working with sugar maples and have had no luck. I need approx. 50 seeds to be sure that I can get enough seedlings in the next ~2 months. I'm completely willing to crawl around under trees looking for seeds on the ground, but don't have the experience needed to identify seeds that have been on the ground since fall.
Does anyone know of a source? or have any other suggestions??
Thank you!
cold-stratified sugar maple seeds
How about Maple Syrup makers??
lawyer nursery sells seed by the pound, maple seed was pretty reasonable, but they have a 250$ minimum on nursery stock , Im not sure if that applies to seed as well, but you can try. hope this helps . www.lawyernursery.com
thanks cgarvin. I've actually already called Lawyer Nursery and several other large seed suppliers (F.W. Schumacher), but their seeds haven't been cold stratified yet. I don't have the time to stick seeds in moist, cold conditions for >1 month which is what they require for germination so I'm looking for the highly perishable seeds that have already begun germination.
I've actually tried a few maple syrup places victorgardener (good suggestion otherwise!), but most either have stored seeds or already have the trees they want! Though this is probably where I'll turn again when I'm looking for a stand to crawl under hoping that all I pick up are sugar maple seeds!
I posted a link on the Trees & Shrubs forum. Someone there should be able to help. Good luck!
gee- just thinking of the flush of maple seedlings in the garden every spring, and the quantity of seeds that seem to be all around..I would just think if somewhere right nearby you found a few farms that do sugaring, someone could point you in the direction of their sugar bush- (sugar maple trees), and you'd have your seeds in no time- If you are anywhere near Keene, I could give you the names of some folks who do sugaring......but surely, there are people just a hop and skip from you too. Conservation centers might also have some pointers. In Nelson near here is the Harris Center, for instance- good helpful people.
You should have no trouble identifying seeds, they're the little helicopters of course! I'm in zone 5 and all the seeds from my Crimson Norway are sprouting already, I have hundreds of baby trees in my yard. Geez, just like the government to not give you the funding until it's maybe too late.
I'd go for doing your own collection - I did it (with Acer pseudoplatanus, A. cappadocicum and A. platanoides) for someone on another forum who suddenly wanted seeds in early March.
Acer saccharum seeds are easy to recognise, nearly spherical, about 5-8mm diameter, with either the whole wing still remaining or a stub of it (quite often, the thin part of the wing will have rotted away by now). They are very easy to tell from Acer platanoides (a common invasive alien in N America) as A. platanoides seeds are flat discs, not globular. Pic of a pair of fresh seeds below from USDA.
Quite likely by now, a lot of the seeds will have already started germinating; look for two bright green strap-shaped cotyledons, rolled up when they first emerge from the seed husk.
Most of the seeds will be underneath the crown of the trees or within 5m of the downwind margin, they don't generally blow very far. I was finding up to 5-10 seeds per 10cm x 10cm area, no trouble at all to pick up 50.
Resin
This message was edited Mar 27, 2007 10:28 AM
Eulelicht- I'm a little confused here. If the seeds are on the ground, wouldn't they have been there since fall? I mean they didn't just get there since the trees have been bare since fall anyway. I just took a short walk out to the woods out back of my house, there's tons, tons (!) of maple seeds out there. Some already germinating. I'd say they are stratified. I'd send you some, 'cept I don't know a sugar maple from a non-sugar maple. But you're welcome to them if you want. Just holler and I'll pack some up for you.
Hi Jenhill,
Are your maple seeds flat discs, or more-or-less spherical? If the latter, then they'll very likely be Sugar Maple, as other common eastern US maples (Red, Silver) won't have seeds lying on the ground at this time of year. If they are flat discs, then they're Norway Maple.
Resin
I think I have both Resin. There are some that are flat and some that are more bulbus. I can take some pictures tomorrow and post. I know that I have more than one type of maple tree here. There's a tree in front of my house that has smaller leaves, but his seeds were mostly raked up in the fall. Then the majority of the trees around my house in the wooded area have the bigger kind of leaf. I wish I knew which was which. I can identify a maple when I see it, but as to which type, I am stumped. Went out to my garden today to check out the level of dampness of the soil and there were maple seeds that had fallen into the planting bed and they were sprouting. Funny, they are the first thing to sprout.