Lithops

[Wesley Chin]

Hi everyone, just wanted to know, I have got Lithops seeds that are about 6 to 7 years old and would like to know if they can still germinate.

Thanks

[iann]

They should germinate just fine if they've been stored properly.

[benmayim]

Probably, if they weren't previously wetted, or frozen when they weren't supposed to be, and some lithops can have their seed frozen and still germinate no problem. But when wetted previously, they may have been attacked and killed by some fungus or disease.

[Duke]

Simply sow them. That will remove any doubts.

[Boo Hollow]

I just ran into this situation during the summer when I found some Lithops seed I had purchased from the CSSA seed depot years and years ago. Improperly stored they were, in a baggie, in the garage and in the ever changing cycles of hot and cold, humid and dry. In fact, I had no idea what they were since they only had a number on the packet. Since they were small, surface sowed them and voila, Lithops! I have also successfully sown/germinated Dudleya seed that is 25+ years old that came from Paul Thompson when I lived in So. Cal. Hell, they get 10,000 year old grain seed to germinate from archeological digs. Never give up without trying. Good luck.

[amanzed]

On his page at http://mexicanhatcactus.com/AfricanPlants.html

Harvey writes---

Lithops wernerii

Some months ago I was fortunate to be the recipient of some seed that was collected in Africa many years ago. The image that you see above is seedlings of some of that seed. The plant is lithops wernerii. The seed was field collected in 1978. As you can see so far the seedlings are doing nicely. These were planted about 8 weeks ago. Yes we have had some failures but now we may have found how to make that 27 year old seed grow. Only time will tell. The lesson here is before you discard that ‘out of date seed’ you might want to plant some and see what you get!

--
dean
http://sentientmeat.net/

[Matt Maggio]

That's great news for the species, especially if some of those pictured seedlings are now 5-year old adults. Lithops werneri hasn't been seen in habitat for some years, despite the exploratory efforts by some at the only documented locality. Nonetheless, I think it would be premature to label this species extinct in the wild. The surrounding region in the Erongo Mts. beckons further exploration...

That strikes an interesting question: When does something become extinct, particularly in the wild?... not in fact, but as is commonly practiced for tracking and documenting taxa in the wild? When no one can find it again? For how long? What if no one cares to look hard enough?

MM