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 =C2=B0C 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=E2=80=99t 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=E2=80=99s 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=E2=80=99t becoming tubers, but are doing something I don=E2=80=99t know about. If
anyone does find this interesting, the photos are free for all to use.
Walter Turner
Wuppertal, Germany
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