Kent R. Jorgensen Richard Stevens Chapter 24 Seed Collection, Cleaning, and Storage Seed Collection __________________________________ Acquisition of quality seed in the quantity needed is essential for successful restoration and revegetation programs. Seed is grown and harvested as a crop, or collected from native stands. In the past, when native species were seeded, it was either collect the seed yourself, or go without. Now, there are dealers who supply seed of many native species on a regular basis. Some seed companies will contract for collection of specific species. There are many grass and forb species that are cultivated for seed. Some of the more common species are: bluebunch wheat- grass, crested and desert wheatgrass, pubescent wheatgrass, intermediate wheatgrass, Russian wildrye, smooth brome, orchardgrass, Indian ricegrass, alfalfa, arrowleaf balsamroot, small burnet, Palmer penstemon, Rocky Mountain penstemon, Lewis flax, cicer milkvetch, crownvetch, Utah sweetvetch, and sainfoin. Seed of a few shrubs, including mountain and Wyoming big sagebrush, fourwing saltbush, and antelope bitterbrush are sometimes produced in orchards. Seed of many shrubs and forbs, and a few grass species are available only from native stands (table 1). USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-136. 2004 699 700 Table 1—Selected seed characteristics, seed collection, and seed cleaning requirements for important Intermountain grasses, forbs, and shrubs. Chapter 24 Acceptable Seed per lb at Seed Seed Seed Reproductive Reproductive percent Germination 100 percent maturity collection cleaning structure structure Storage After- Stratifi- Species Puritya Germinationa ratingb purity month/day methodc equipmentd harvested seeded timee ripeningf cationf Grasses Barley, 90 60 3 40,770 7/1-8/15 1-2-5 6-1-3 Spikelet Floret 2 N N bulbous Bentgrass, 90 90 2 4,851,200 7/15-9/15 1-2-4 6-2-9 Floret Floret 2 U U red Bluegrass, big 90 70 3 843,000 7/1-8/15 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 4 U U Bluegrass, 90 80 3 1,998,240 8/1-9/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 2 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 Canada Bluegrass, 95 85 2 925,000 6/15-7/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 2 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 Sandberg Brome, 90 85 1 118,745 7/15-8/30 1-2-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret less 2 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 meadow awn Brome, 95 90 1 60,475 8/1-9/15 1-2-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret less 4 Y,0,1 Y,0,1 mountain awn Brome, smooth 95 90 1 135,600 7/20-9/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 4 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 Brome, 90 80 2 120,640 8/1-9/15 1-2-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 3 Y,0,1 Y,0,1 subalpine Dropseed, sand 90 80 3 5,600,000 9/1-10/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Grain Grain 3 Y,0,1 Y,4,0 Fescue, desert 95 85 2 162,000 7/20-9/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 2 U U USDA ForestService Gen.Tech.Rep.RMRS-GTR-136. 2004 Fescue, 95 85 2 633,520 7/10-8/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret less 2 Y,0,1 Y,2-4,0 hard sheep awn Fescue, 95 85 2 497,370 7/1-8/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret less 2 Y,0,1 Y,2-4,0 Idaho awn Fescue, 95 85 2 680,000 7/10-8/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret less 2 Y,0,1 Y,2-4,0 sheep awn Foxtail, 90 80 2 440,390 7/1-8/15 1-4 6-2-4 Spikelet Spikelet less 3 Y,0,1 Y,2-4,0 meadow awns Foxtail, 90 80 2 156,415 7/1-8/15 1-4 6-2-4 Spikelet Spikelet less 3 Y,0,1 Y,0,1 reed awns Seed Collection,Cleaning,andStorage Junegrass, 90 80 2 4,123,635 7/10-8/30 1-4 6-2-4 Floret Floret 2 Y,0,1 U prairie Needlegrass, 90 50 3 162,450 7/15-9/30 1-4 6-2-4 Floret Floret less 4 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 green awn Needlegrass, 90 50 3 206,180 8/1-10/15 1-4 6-2-4 Floret Floret less 4 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 Letterman awn Needlegrass, 90 50 3 94,895 8/1-9/30 1-4 6-2-4 Floret Floret less 4 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 needle-and- awn thread (con.) Chapter 24 USDA ForestService Gen.Tech.Rep.RMRS-GTR-136. 2004 Table 1 (Con.) Acceptable Seed per lb at Seed Seed Seed Reproductive Reproductive percent Germination 100 percent maturity collection cleaning structure structure Storage After- Stratifi- Species Puritya Germinationa ratingb purity month/day methodc equipmentd harvested seeded timee ripeningf cationf Grasses Oatgrass, tall 90 80 3 189,000 8/15-9/30 1-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret less 2 Y,0,1 Y,0,1 awn Oniongrass 90 75 3 7/1-8/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 2 U U Orchardgrass 90 85 3 477,200 7/20-9/15 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 3 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 Reedgrass, 90 70 4 574,120 7/15-8/30 1-5 6-2-4 Floret Grain 5 U U chee Ricegrass, 95 65 4 161,920 6/30-7/15 1-2-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret less 5 Y,0,1 Y,0,1-2 Indian hairy lemma Sacaton, alkali 90 80 3 1,750,000 8/15-10/1 1-4-5 6-2-4 Grain Grain 3 N N Squirreltail, 90 85 2 191,555 7/15-8/15 1-2-4-5 6-2-4 Spikelet Floret less 4 N N bottlebrush awn Sunflower, 90 70 2 60,000 7/15-8/30 1-2-4-5 6-2-4-5 Achene Achene 1 U U annual Timothy 90 90 2 1,246,000 7/15-8/30 1-5 6-2-4 Spikelet Grain or 2 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 spikelet Timothy, 90 85 2 7/15-8/30 1-5 6-2-4 Spikelet Grain or 2 Y,0,1 Y,0,1 alpine spikelet Wheatgrass, 90 85 2 142,640 7/15-9/15 1-2-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret less 4 Y,0,1 Y,0,1 bearded awn bluebunch Wheatgrass, 95 85 2 125,680 7/15-9/15 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 4 Y,0,1 Y,0,1 beardless bluebunch Wheatgrass, 95 80 3 115,000 8/15-11/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 3 Y,0,1 Y,0,1 western Wheatgrass, 95 85 1 319,660 7/15-10/15 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 3 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 fairway Wheatgrass, 95 85 1 192,785 8/1-10/15 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 3 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 crested Seed Collection,Cleaning,andStorage Wheatgrass, 95 90 1 88,110 8/1-10/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 3 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 intermediate Wheatgrass, 95 85 1 87,000 8/15-10/15 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 3 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 pubescent Wheatgrass, 95 85 1 212,855 9/1-12/10 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 3 Y,0,1 Y,0,1 Siberian Wheatgrass, 95 85 2 133,360 8/15-10/15 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 3 Y,0,1 Y,0,1 slender 701 Wheatgrass, 90 85 1 137,830 8/15-10/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 2 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 streambank (con.) 702 Table 1 (Con.) Chapter 24 Acceptable Seed per lb at Seed Seed Seed Reproductive Reproductive percent Germination 100 percent maturity collection cleaning structure structure Storage After- Stratifi- Species Puritya Germinationa ratingb purity month/day methodc equipmentd harvested seeded timee ripeningf cationf Grasses Wheatgrass, tall 95 90 2 76,805 8/1-10/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 2 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 Wheatgrass, 95 85 1 137,000 7/25-9/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 3 Y,0,1 Y,0,1 thickspike Wildrye, 95 85 1 130,760 8/4-9/20 1-2-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 4 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 Great Basin Wildrye, 95 85 1 47,130 7/15-8/30 1-2-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 4 Y,0,1 Y,1-2,0 mammoth Wildrye, Russian 95 85 1 168,240 7/15-8/30 1-4-5 6-2-4 Floret Floret 4 Y,0,1 Y,1,0 Forbs Alfalfa 95 85 1 213,760 9/1-10/30 1-5 6-5 Legume Seed 5 N N Aster, 40 70 3 540,000 10/1-10/30 1-2-6 6-2-4 Achene Achene less 2 Y,0,1 Y,2-4,0 blueleaf pappus Aster, 40 70 3 200,000 9/15-10/30 1-2-6 6-2-4 Achene Achene less 2 Y,0,1 Y,2-4,0 Englemann pappus Aster, 40 70 3 2,668,235 9/15-10/30 1-2-6 6-2-4 Achene Achene less 2 Y,0,1 Y,2-4,0 Pacific pappus Balsamroot, 95 40 3 55,245 5/15-7/25 1-2-4 6-2-4 Achene Achene 2 Y,0,1-3 Y,0,2-3 arrowleaf g USDA ForestService Gen.Tech.Rep.RMRS-GTR-136.