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  Photos of Z. zamiifolia seeds
From: Walter Turner <wvturner at gmail.com> on 2019.10.22 at 18:25:39(24251)

On 4 April, way back in 2008, I asked in this forum whether anyone had photos
of Z. zamiifolia seeds. No on ever answered, but in private
correspondence with several forum members, I learned that no one knew of
pictures.
Over the years since I wrote, I have tried pollinating the inflorescences.
There is seldom visible pollen, so on the occasions when there is some, I have
saved it in the freezing compartment of my refrigerator (not in a deep freeze).
In 2018, I finally had seed. Twice. The first inflorescence was lost simply by
being jarred when I moved the plant. The second, though, matured and produced
three seeds. I was expecting seeds about the size and shape of olive pits, like
the ones I had seen on aglaonema, but these were much bigger, rather like hazel
nuts (2.76 MB photo, ZZ seeds.jpg).
I photographed the seeds and planted them in whatever commercial potting soil I
had then on 28 December 2018. The pot was kept in my office, which is generally
21 or 22 °C during the day and a few degrees cooler at night. On 28 March 2019,
three months later to a day, I saw that one seed had sent up a shoot. Over the
next few days, the others did so. The shoots didn’t look like much, but by 18
April the first had opened to give two leaflets (2.26 MB photo, ZZ seedling.jpg).
These resembled what ZZ’s commonly send up from the roots.
On 7 October 2019, I separated the little plants into three pots. For photos, I
removed nearly all the soil (2.38 MB photo, ZZ plants with
seeds-roots.jpg). ZZ surprised me again: the seeds were not being consumed to
nourish the little plants, but appeared to be growing into tubers. Since I had
a different kind of potting soil, I packed some of the old around the roots.
I hope my naivete comes through here. Maybe no one answered my query because
everybody knew all about this and assumed someone else would tell me. Maybe my ZZ
seeds aren’t becoming tubers, but are doing something I don’t know about. If
anyone does find this interesting, the photos are free for all to use.


Walter Turner

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From: The Silent Seed <tylus.seklos at gmail.com> on 2019.10.23 at 14:29:06(24252)
This is awesome! I've never seen that - obviously - Did you happen to take pictures of the flowers?

On Tue, Oct 22, 2019 at 7:44 PM Walter Turner wrote:

On 4 April, way back in 2008, I asked in this forum whether anyone had photos
of Z. zamiifolia seeds. No on ever answered, but in private
correspondence with several forum members, I learned that no one knew of
pictures.

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From: Walter Turner <wvturner at gmail.com> on 2019.10.23 at 15:30:38(24253)
Thanks.

No, I didn’t photograph the flowers, but pictures of them are all over the
Internet. The stalk curves over, so the flower is upside down and hard to see.
I used a mirror to see what was happening there.

These plants grow all over here, in offices and hallways and restaurant windows,
and I see flowers all the time. When I can, I look to see whether there is
seed, but never find any. I once asked a woman who was planting them in a mall
whether she had seen any, but she had never noticed that ZZ’s even have flowers.

Walter

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From: Emily Colletti <Emily.Colletti at mobot.org> on 2019.10.24 at 14:47:30(24254)
Thank you for sharing.

Emily Colletti Horticulturist Research/Aroid collections Missouri Botanical Garden 4344 Shaw Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63110 314-577-9473 ext. 77145

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From: The Silent Seed <tylus.seklos at gmail.com> on 2019.10.24 at 14:50:11(24255)
This is fascinating stuff, to me, anyway. It's too bad that almost nobody is on here any longer. I wonder why.

Speaking along the lines of flowers, I noticed my Aglaonema "Chocolate" are flowering and the flowers are yellow. What a surprise that was. Nice change from the usual white.

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From: Deni Bown <denibown at gmail.com> on 2019.10.24 at 15:16:06(24256)
Thank you for the photos and information – very interesting indeed!

From: aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com On Behalf Of Walter Turner
Sent: 23 October 2019 17:31
To: Discussion of aroids
Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Photos of Z. zamiifolia seeds

Thanks.
No, I didn’t photograph the flowers, but pictures of them are all over the Internet. The stalk curves over, so the flower is upside down and hard to see. I used a mirror to see what was happening there.
These plants grow all over here, in offices and hallways and restaurant windows, and I see flowers all the time. When I can, I look to see whether there is seed, but never find any. I once asked a woman who was planting them in a mall whether she had seen any, but she had never noticed that ZZ’s even have flowers.
Walter

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From: Tom Croat <Thomas.Croat at mobot.org> on 2019.10.24 at 23:19:23(24258)
Dear Walter: I am sorry that I missed your original query but want to say that this is a wonderful story and really one that deserves being published, if not in Aroideana than in the IAS Newsletter.
Could you write up an article about this experience with images of your subject matter. Perhaps your article would lead to others doing the sort of detailed sleuthing that you did with Zamioculcus. If you chose to write the article I would be happy to help
you in any way that I can. Please tell me where is Wuppertal? I am always interested in the location of German cities since I served in the army in 1957–1959 in southern Germany and have traveled there quite a few times as well for other reasons.

All the best,

Tom

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From: Walter Turner <wvturner at gmail.com> on 2019.10.25 at 14:16:16(24259)
Hello, Tom.

I know to appreciate a positive comment from you.

First, Wuppertal is some 25 miles NNE of Cologne. With some 350,000 people, it
is probably Germany’s largest city that no one has ever heard of. That’s
probably because this is the most highly populated area of Europe and even a
city of this size is lost. People who do know about Wuppertal know it for its
suspension railway, the schwebebahn. That line runs about ten miles
through the Wupper valley, for most of the stretch hanging above the river.
Which would be called a creek in the US.

As to publication, I don’t think I could add to what I wrote. That was all I
know about the ZZ seeds. I have a lot of pictures, but the ones I posted are
the best and most illustrative. I spent my working life as a chemist, and I
have a number of publications to my name. My friends are teasing me about this
latest one, without co-authors or peer review.

Walter

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From: Tom Croat <Thomas.Croat at mobot.org> on 2019.10.25 at 17:44:16(24260)
Dear Walter:

I realize that what you explained was short and to the point and that you then assume that since you mentioned this in a post that it is “old” news but I can assure you that most people in the
botanical community will not have read your notes. I am hoping that you could just retrieve your messages, assemble them into order and include the pictures. It really is worthy of a short publication and I can help you assemble it for our Newsletter. If
you don’t have time to do that just capture all your notes and the images and send them to me. I can put them into order and send it back to you for your approval. Science loses a lot of information simply because little bits of information are considered
unimportant and often never get recorded. I don’t trust that information dispensed by social media will ever be cataloged and recorded.

Wuppert

Wuppertal looks wonderful on Google Earth. I especially liked the nice wooded areas around the city and the big park where there is a museum. I did not see the suspended train though. I must
have looked in sufficient detail because I am sure that it would show up. Does it go anywhere near that big park?

I was always amazed when I was in Germany how many smallish towns once sees on a single road. When I was in Bavaria I would ride out into the country from Ansbach where I was attending the US
Army Signal School-Europe on the weekend on a rented bicycle. As a farm boy it was interesting to see how different your methods of agriculture where. In those days in the little towns the farmer lived in a building above his cows. The manure was in front
and in the spring the fluid manure was carried quite appropriately the field and spread on the soil.

This year we rented a car and covered 3600 km all over southern France. I need to do the same sometime in Germany. Perhaps I will be able finally to visit your fine valley! This year in September
I visited a part of Germany not so distant from you. Hanover, Bielefeld, Stuckenbrock and Paderborn. I traveled overnight on a train from Copenhagen to Hamburg because the airline baggage handlers in Copenhagen were on strike. I went there to give lectures
for an aroid sales event sponsored by Ecuagenera.

All the best,

Tom

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From: Walter Turner <wvturner at gmail.com> on 2019.10.25 at 19:50:16(24261)
I
shouldn’t have thought you could google Wuppertal without getting countless
pictures of the schwebebahn. Google
"wuppertal" with the quotes to keep from getting the city government’s
site. Then choose the images. The city itself is crowded along the bottom of
the valley. You can’t walk far from the river without being in a park.

I also lived in southern Germany for a long time
after I first came here. I worked near Freising, which is near Munich, from
1979 till 1993. I lived on a farm several miles from town and traveled by
bicycle, rain or snow, and in retrospect it seems always to have been one or
the other of those. I visited Munich on my first weekend and knew immediately
it was my home. Then work brought me here. It took some getting used to, but now
I love it.

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From: Tom Croat <Thomas.Croat at mobot.org> on 2019.10.25 at 20:07:48(24262)
Dear Walter: Your suggestion was a good one and when I Googled the word I instantly got all kinds of information o the train complete with wonderful images of the train in motion. What I had
done and frequently do is to use Google Earth to look at the town from above. It is wonderful since you can see the vegetation streets houses, etc. Often when I get a person’s address I go there to see where his house is located and what it looks like. That
is great if you are traveling there for the first time. I do it also for finding hotels, hostels, Airbnb locations etc. For example if you type in my address 5600 Hilview Dr. , Pacific, Missouri it will show you my property which is located 50 km SW of the
Missouri Botanical Garden where I work.

It’s nice to know that you live also in Bavaria.

Tom

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From: sin yeng Wong <sinyeng at gmail.com> on 2019.10.27 at 20:46:00(24263)
Dear Walter,

Peter and I just shared reading your observations on ZZ. It is very interesting. If you are interested, please oin us in the next IAS conference at Munich.

More information in the link below.

https://xiiiiac.wixsite.com/xiiiiac

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From: michael kolaczewski <mjkolaffhbc at sbcglobal.net> on 2019.10.28 at 05:18:28(24264)
Walter,

Thank you for sharing this information and photos.

If I may ask you, in one of the photos, you have the plant in what is obviously a bark medium.

Is this something you made yourself or a mix that you had purchased?

Are there any additives ? ( fertilizer, wetting agents, stimulants ).

Thank you again,

Michael

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From: Walter Turner <wvturner at gmail.com> on 2019.10.28 at 06:02:41(24265)
Thank you. I will certainly keep the conference in mind.

Walter

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From: Walter Turner <wvturner at gmail.com> on 2019.10.28 at 12:33:57(24266)

Michael,

It was a purchased medium, the only potting soil I had in the house. Something
I had bought at Obi, the German building-supply chain. I no longer know what it
was, other than that. I added nothing.

I am afraid I gave the impression that I know a lot about plants. I don’t. I
keep a few of the most indestructible aroids like dieffenbachias and aglaonemas,
and the ZZ’s, which are probably the most indestructible of all.

Walter

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