seeds

Polyspermy in Plants

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I’ve been making hybrid aloe and gastrolea seedlings from my own collection for about a year now, and in my curiosity I looked up whether plants can combine genetics from more than one father in the same seed, which is called polyspermy. This is different than seed pods on the same raceme containing different parentage (one flower being fertilized by one neighbor and another by a different one), which is a common phenomenon; the type of polyspermy in plants that I’m talking about means that one seed has three (or more) biological parents. The answer is apparently yes, but it’s such new research that there’s not yet clear information about which plants can and which cannot; proving it’s even possible only happened four years ago!

I think it’s pretty cool how much there still is to learn and research and document in the world!

Anacampseros Rufescens Seedlings

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And speaking of seeds - my Anacampseros rufescens has bloomed repeatedly for me, and due to its self-fertile nature, it's produced seed pods at least twice that I've noticed.  I also suspect it's a monocarpic plant (though googling has only led me to one other person willing to make that statement, so who knows for sure) as each branch that blooms severely dies back.  Over time, this has meant my plant has become smaller and smaller.  So when I spotted another seed pod in late September that still had seeds in it, I pounced.  I grabbed it and then massaged it over the mother plant such that the tiny little seeds sprinkled into the same pot.  I wasn't sure that would do anything, but I figured it was worth a shot.  Several months later and... we have seedlings!  Adorable little Anacampseros rufescens seedlings, some of which are even sprouting telltale white hairs!  Take a peek - there are at least sixteen visible by my count and that's just one corner of the pot:

Seed Pods

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Speaking of the new year and new beginnings - something managed to pollinate my Aloe aristata (or potentially itself an Alworthia cross or a Haworthia spp. lookalike like Haworthia decipiens), and now I have seeds!  I've never bothered to try to pollinate any of my Haworthia/Gasteria/Aloe flowers due to their long, thin throats, so this is a first for me.  I plan to sow the seeds once all the pods have burst open.  I slit a plastic cup in such a way that I fit it around the flower stem and covered it with saran wrap (with air holes) to try to catch the seeds, as the pods apparently explode with some force in order to scatter their goods far and wide. As you can see, one pod has already opened!