Arbutus menziesii seeds (Arbutus; Pacific Madrone)

Description

A beautiful iconic native tree of the North American Pacific Coast. A broadleaf evergreen tree with huge clusters of incredibly sweet honey scented nectar filled bell white flowers in the spring. You can hear the buzz of hummingbirds and other nectar seekers. In the fall, green berries ripen to a brilliant orange. The rich red-cinnamon coloured bark peels off in sheets during the growing season revealing the smooth new green-tan coloured bark. Grows to 12m tall with 6m spread with graceful twists and artful curves (never straight).

Seed mothers are located near the most northern point of their hardiness range.  They receive full sun, freezing winter snow storms, and salt spray.  They are thriving.

There is more species information and really nice pics of exfoliating bark, flower and fruit.  http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Arbutus%20menziesii

• Seed Count: 40-50
• Collection Date: Nov 2017
• Hardiness Zone: 7-10
• Height and Width: 10m x 10m
• Preferred conditions: sunny; well draining poor soils
• Germination test type: float
• Family: Ericaceae

How to germinate Arbutus seed:

Soak seed 24 hours. Cold stratify in a resealable baggie with moist medium 60 days. Sow thinly in containers or flats. Growing medium should be well draining gritty medium. Use sharp sand as the sowing surface. Press seed into sand. Do not cover. Keep moist, shaded, and cool. Prick out seedlings (if growing in flats not growing in dedicated containers) at second true leaf stage in pots to minimize handling. Seat in their final growing position where their roots will not be disturbed. I haven’t tried baggie sowing these, but I can’t see where this technique would be a problem.

seeds exhibit strong embryo dormancy, stratification is critical.  McDonald (1978) found that only 1 of 400 sound seeds germinated without stratification. For stratification, much evidence shows that storage in a plastic bag containing a small amount of moist paper or peat moss at temperatures just above freezing for 35 to 45 days is all that is needed to break dormancy (McDonald 1978; Roy 1974). With this treatment, 78 to 90% of a seedlot will have germinated in 10 days