Seed/Pit ID
March 2, 2013 9:30 AM Subscribe
What are these? The starlings that nest in our eaves drop them all over our deck. The one on the left is fresh - it fell on my head just before I took the photo - and the other is at least several days old. We are in San Francisco. Nothing in our backyard produces things with seeds/pits except our Meyer lemon tree. Any ideas?
Looks like some sort of cactus fruit to me. What does the interior of the seeds look like? Can you cut one open? Is there one large hard seed inside, or tiny small ones?
posted by gemmy at 10:10 AM on March 2, 2013
posted by gemmy at 10:10 AM on March 2, 2013
Response by poster: Cut-open seed, with, um, skin of seed. It may not be clear from the photos, but the red ones are not pulpy in any way - they are dry, like the white ones.
posted by rtha at 10:23 AM on March 2, 2013
posted by rtha at 10:23 AM on March 2, 2013
Hmm, the structure looks more like a leaf gall than a seed to me, but it's hard to tell from the photo. Any Eucalyptus or Live Oaks nearby?
posted by oneirodynia at 12:55 PM on March 2, 2013
posted by oneirodynia at 12:55 PM on March 2, 2013
Response by poster: Defintely eucalyptus - there's one in a neighboring yard, and literally across the street are many, many eucalyptuses (eucalypti?) that line the freeway. The one in the neighboring yard is a different kind from the ones across the street. Live oaks...maybe (my oak ID sucks); definitely on Bernal Heights, which isn't too far as the starling flies.
posted by rtha at 12:57 PM on March 2, 2013
posted by rtha at 12:57 PM on March 2, 2013
Thinking some more, it might be something in the Sumac family, like Chinese Pistache, Rhus, Schinus, or Poison Oak, though I'm not finding anything conclusive with Google images.
What's making me wonder if it's a gall is the darker areas that look like pits or openings. Are they actually open, or am I imagining it? If you have a hand lens, you could look and see if there are larvae, though many galls are also caused by fungi or bacteria.
There are many types of Eucalyptus galls, some of which sort of resemble your capsule. However if they all are relatively uniform in size and shape, I think that would rule out galls, though a lack of uniformity does not rule out seeds.
Seeds may have a visible hilum, which is the scar at the place the seed was attached to the ovary. In your dissection photo it seems like there might be a small round scar on the outer skin. If it is a monocot seed (most common, these are seeds that have two leaves when they sprout, unlike a grass, corn, or bamboo seed) you may be able to split it down the middle and see a tiny embryonic plant. You could also try sprouting it. :)
posted by oneirodynia at 1:58 PM on March 2, 2013
What's making me wonder if it's a gall is the darker areas that look like pits or openings. Are they actually open, or am I imagining it? If you have a hand lens, you could look and see if there are larvae, though many galls are also caused by fungi or bacteria.
There are many types of Eucalyptus galls, some of which sort of resemble your capsule. However if they all are relatively uniform in size and shape, I think that would rule out galls, though a lack of uniformity does not rule out seeds.
Seeds may have a visible hilum, which is the scar at the place the seed was attached to the ovary. In your dissection photo it seems like there might be a small round scar on the outer skin. If it is a monocot seed (most common, these are seeds that have two leaves when they sprout, unlike a grass, corn, or bamboo seed) you may be able to split it down the middle and see a tiny embryonic plant. You could also try sprouting it. :)
posted by oneirodynia at 1:58 PM on March 2, 2013
Are they hard like cherry pits?
posted by purpleclover at 8:00 PM on March 2, 2013
posted by purpleclover at 8:00 PM on March 2, 2013
Response by poster: No, kind of squishable, like a lemon seed. I'll try to get a look/picture with a lens tomorrow.
posted by rtha at 8:10 PM on March 2, 2013
posted by rtha at 8:10 PM on March 2, 2013
« Older Queer eye for the straight(ish) girl. | What else can I do with this artisanal salt? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by JujuB at 9:54 AM on March 2, 2013 [1 favorite]