I found these on the sidewalk under a Nyssa sylvatica. Do they look right for blackgum fruits/seeds?
I didn't see any other plants around that would produce a similar looking fruit. And the tree was directly above me, but was branched too high for me to pick any directly off the tree.

This tree was a fairly large (60') tree at the edge of a mesic wooded area, mixed in with some Q. alba, Liriodendron, and hickory of some type.

Liriodendron tulipifera. Are these "ripe" enough to be viable? Just turning tan/brown and drying a bit at the edges and tip.

Also a question -

For hickories, can they, like oaks, be collected while still green? There are some where only a few nuts have dropped, and the rest are still in the husk, but the husk splits pretty easily. Is there a way to tell they're OK to harvest? For growing, not eating, as the nuts in question are mostly mockernut, pignut, and bitternut as far as my limited ID skills have determined. Not many Shagbarks or Shellbarks around here.

I tried some Shellbark this year, but the seeds all rotted after a while and didn't sprout. A couple still look 'intact' but never did anything.

I've had Butternuts that took 2 winters before they sprouted. If the shell stays sealed and the nut cool, they can keep for a long time.

Hmm. I'll hang onto them.

So nobody has any input?

I would guess the first are indeed blackgum fruits -- just that some have their flesh gone.

Never dealt w/tuliptree seeds.

Oaks -- if you can pull them out of the cup easily, I'd reckon they'd be ripe enough. I see plenty of them on the ground that are still partly green.

Yeah, the black gum fruits had dropped onto a sidewalk. It appeared some have been walked on. So the seeds were squished out of the fruit.

However, the seeds are pretty hard, and didn't appear to have been crushed or damaged. Plus I found a few intact fruits, too, so I should have at least a few viable seeds in there.

I went back this morning to get a few more blackgum fruits. This time, I got whole fruits off the grass. I squeezed out the seed, then rinsed each seed quickly while rubbing the pulp off. Got them pretty clean easily. I have about 30 seeds now.

I also now have about 1lb of Quercus alba acorns, probably more than I need. This includes what poaky sent me, plus those I collected from a total now of about 10 different local trees.

So the tuliptree fruit is opening...not sure if that indicates seed maturity or viability or not.

Magnolia grandiflora. A poster on another one of my threads said they were ready to collect now. So I just leave them sit for a while? Until the seeds start pushing out?
I know these seeds don't store well, so I'm trying to figure out if there's a way I can time this right, so they're not sprouting in stratification in the fridge in January, when I have nowhere to put them where they can grow...Because I don't have a greenhouse.

Those magnolia pods don't look quite mature enough to me, but I'm no expert. What variety is that? Since flowers bloom all summer, pods would vary in when they ripen I would think.

Here was one on a tree near my home. These look ready!

I'm not sure of variety, it appeared to be a generic M. grandiflora that hung just far enough over a parking lot that I snagged a few. It was a big tree, so not a "Little Gem" or "Teddy Bear" type.

I'll probably go back when more of them open and see if I can grab a few more.

Anyone know about the Liriodendron I posted above? The fruit was green with some brown at the tips, but as I posted, it's opening up now. So might have been 'ready' more or less.

Liriodendron -- is this a particularly special one? They are truly weeds in my beds. I pull every seedling I can find (many). The large trees in neighbor's yards have been raining yellow leaves since August (from drought).

Ours are defoliating a lot, too, but there's also some insect that caused some leaf browning on top of the dryness, so it's a double-whammy. Some are almost bare, yet others look lush and full, I think soil type or aspect has a lot to do with how well they weather the drought.

I pull them up, too, but I like them anyway, and actually want to grow some for some local parks and "open space" areas that I donate to.

OK - how about Taxodium distichum? The ones around here I know of with cones, the cones, the last time I looked (mid-Sept) were still bluish in color and the scales closed tight.

Cornus kousa. The pulp is very hard to get off the seeds. I had to rub them on a washcloth.

BTW- I got fruit of two different trees. The pulp from one tree was pinkish-apricot-colored, the other a more straight yellow. Is that typical?

For hickories. Allow the husk to open on the tree and drop them... or if the husks have split and you see a mature seed, you can collect them then.

Dax

P.s. I posted about Taxodium on another thread this morning.

Dax - hickories must drop all at once. The tree I was observing had nuts still in the husk last week, LOTS of them, on the tree.

Yesterday morning, nothing on the tree, and nothing worthwhile on the ground, just a bunch of half eaten nuts and husks!

I collected a bunch of Persian walnuts yesterday and looked at the early (grafted) pecans & (grafted) hickories. The hickories aren't ready here, yet. All the Persian walnuts are about done.

Dax

So re: Liriodendron - I got a few more fruits today. They're a yellowish color and starting to dry just a bit. I assume these are "ready" once I let them dry a bit? The tree I got them from is just starting to show fall color as well, it didn't seem to brown out or drop many leaves during our bug-infested, dry late summer like a lot of others around it, although it's next to a pond, so that might have helped.

Now THESE Magnolia grandiflora look good!

Even the closed ones have follicles starting to separate. Now what do I do?

Johnny "conifer_50" posted a method for you... I don't recall which thread.

You need to soften the pulp to extract the seed which means you'll likely soak in water and then either squish the pulp off with your hands or some other way.

My favorite method by far is using a power washer... but you need a screen that whatever seed you're cleaning cannot pass thru. For walnuts I use a tall sided flat with holes in the sides and on the bottom and blast away. I don't know what you'd use for a small, magnolia seed. Likely some sort of contraption you made yourself from hardware cloth. A box made with 2x4's that's no taller than 3.5" inches would be perfect. Put the hardware cloth over the bottom and top of the 2x4's and leave a way to open one side... how you'll do that you'll have to think about it. Even if you have to use screws to open and close the top.

I'd also run a furring strip along the bottom, base, of the 2x4's to elevate it off the ground. Then hammer away...

Dax

I did the squish thing for the Nyssa, but that is a much softer fruit - I really just "popped" the seed out then rubbed them underwater and they were done. Took just a few minutes. These will be harder. I recalled Johnnys post, but can't remember where it was, either.

Thanks!

I thought why not look at Dirr & Heuser:

Dirr, Michael A and Heuser, Charles, Jr. ‘The Reference
Manual of Woody Plant Propagation: From Seed to Tissue Culture’; (Second
Edition 2006); Varsity Press, Inc. ISBN:
0942375092 or ISBN: 13: 978-0-942375-09-1

I need that book.

So I was able to take the magnolia seeds that were already hanging, and get the pulp off.

Some are browner and larger, some smaller and paler. Are the pale small ones unviable?

Toss the small ones and then float test the larger and deeper colored ones. You'll find with Magnolias that a lot of the seeds are no good... even the ones that are large and appear viable.

I suppose for educational purposes you should float them all.

Dax

Actually, the ones in the picture I did float test, I had already thrown the floaters out. I did toss the small ones, too. I'm still waiting for a few of the follicles to open, so the number of seeds I have should double.

There's no way I'll need near that many trees, so even if only 5% or 10% germinate, I should be good.

Oh yes... looking at your photo again - I see they aren't much different in size. I think I looked too quickly, yesterday.

At any rate, good.

Dax