Hey, Judith,

Incredibly sorry I'm so late responding. This week has been, well, crammed. This is the first time I've had a chance to sit down at the puter.

I'll post in seperate threads about dogwoods from seed and azaleas from seed. It'll probably be next week before I have time to put that stuff together, but be on the lookout.

Seed pulp's main function is that of bait (fauna eats the tasty pulp and distributes the indigestible seed). Some seed pulp also performs the function of germination inhibitor, thanks to chemicals in the pulp that are broken down and destroyed by the action of cold, moisture over time, bacteria, etc. But not all pulpy seed contains such inhibitors. As a very general rule, you can assume the pulp of a woody plant that is native to a temperate (meaning it has a winter) climate probably contains germination inhibition tendencies. And even with the exceptions (like, say, Leatherwood, Dirca palustris), you'll still get seedlings by treating the seed as if the pulp contained those inhibitors. So go ahead and clean the pulp off seeds if you intend to control their germination via stratification or winter sowing. If you don't care how long it takes to get seedlings, don't bother cleaning the pulp and sow the seed outdoors in the fall. You may get great germination the following spring or it may take longer.

All of which is a longwinded way to explain why you'd probably do well to go ahead and clean those moonseed berries.

I really only skimmed the surface of propagation by seed at the Swap talk. But those basics I spoke of will work for the vast majority of perennials. Woody plants tend to be more involved, although some are incredibly easy. But it tends to be a more species-by-species thing.

Marty

Glad to see you made it home safe and sound, Marty!

Virginia