Rhamnus crocea Nutt.
Spiny redberry
Family: Rhamnaceae
Habit: Shrub to 2 meters, sometimes thorn-tipped.
Distribution: Found in coastal foothill chaparral and woodlands from Sonoma County in Northern California to Baja California, Mexico.
Seed unit: The fruit is a berrylike drupe containing two to four nutlike seeds (seed unit is the free seed).
Seed: 5 to 6 mm. long, broadly rounded, triangular with a wedge-shaped opening on one face. Has a distinct line lengthwise on the flat face.
Embryo: Foliar with endosperm.
Purity instructions: Pure seed definition:
AOSA: PSU#1 - Seed, with or without seed coat. Piece of broken seed, with or without seed coat, larger than one-half the original size.
Lab notes: There are often intact seeds with no embryos.
Average pure seed units per gram: 113 seeds per gram (based on AOSA pure seed units only from 8 samples received for testing from 1994 to 2002).
Range of percent pure seed: 96 to 99%
Range of percent inert: .3 to 3.2%
Description of inert: Plant material, sticks, stone, broken seed.
Planting instructions: 400 seeds, T, 35 days @ 15°C; for fresh and dormant seed, GA3 recommended.
References: (link to main reference page)
Hickman, J.C., Ed. 1993. p. 940
Ransom Seed Laboratory
