Yep. It looks a bit on the small side, but may be producing viable seeds. They are slow to ripen, and when ripe will be dry, woody pods with a remarkable feature: they only open when wet.
Almost all members of the ice plant family do this. The pod is segmented and the seeds are held in pockets with fine hairs. When the pod becomes wet from rain, the segments open up, and the segment lids, plus membranes attached to them which unfold as the pod opens, will direct raindrops into the segment chambers, propelling the seeds out. When dry, they close back up again to protect the seeds. This adaptation both ensures the seeds are only released during times of rain and helps to scatter them within a few feet of the parent plant so that they have room to grow. It’s a really remarkable adaptation.
The seed pod is entirely dry and dead when this mechanism works, since it’s achieved through different types of woody fibers with differential expansion when saturated with water, not an active response of the plant, so even if the seed pod becomes separated from the plant, it will serve to protect the seeds and keep them safe during dry times, releasing them when it rains and their odds of survival are the greatest.
KiwiFella07
Yep. When it’s fully dry, crispy-brown, you can either:
a) Drop it in water, let the seeds all fall out, strain the water to collect the seeds, and dry them before storage/sowing
Or
b) Manually crush the pod and separate the seeds from the chaff
There may be more methods but these are the common ones. I prefer b) because there’s less hassle but it can be annoying getting all the seeds out and removing the chaff, so I get why people use other methods.
2 Comments
Yep. It looks a bit on the small side, but may be producing viable seeds. They are slow to ripen, and when ripe will be dry, woody pods with a remarkable feature: they only open when wet.
Almost all members of the ice plant family do this. The pod is segmented and the seeds are held in pockets with fine hairs. When the pod becomes wet from rain, the segments open up, and the segment lids, plus membranes attached to them which unfold as the pod opens, will direct raindrops into the segment chambers, propelling the seeds out. When dry, they close back up again to protect the seeds. This adaptation both ensures the seeds are only released during times of rain and helps to scatter them within a few feet of the parent plant so that they have room to grow. It’s a really remarkable adaptation.
The seed pod is entirely dry and dead when this mechanism works, since it’s achieved through different types of woody fibers with differential expansion when saturated with water, not an active response of the plant, so even if the seed pod becomes separated from the plant, it will serve to protect the seeds and keep them safe during dry times, releasing them when it rains and their odds of survival are the greatest.
Yep. When it’s fully dry, crispy-brown, you can either:
a) Drop it in water, let the seeds all fall out, strain the water to collect the seeds, and dry them before storage/sowing
Or
b) Manually crush the pod and separate the seeds from the chaff
There may be more methods but these are the common ones. I prefer b) because there’s less hassle but it can be annoying getting all the seeds out and removing the chaff, so I get why people use other methods.