Senna covesii

Senna covesii A. Gray
Coues’ Cassia, Desert senna (syn. Cassia covesii)

Family:  Fabaceae

Habit:  Subshrub, unarmed, leafy and densely white-hairy; stems 3 to 6 dm.

Distribution:  Dry, sandy desert washes and slopes.  Rare in California. Found in the Sonora Desert, Arizona, Nevada, and Baja California.

Seed unit:  Free seed.

Seed:  Several in flat pods.  Seeds brown, 2 to 4mm., shiny, flattened, irregularly shaped.

Embryo:  Foliar embryo, bent or folded, with hard seed coat.

Purity instructions:   Pure seed definition: 
AOSA:  PSU #2 – Seed with at least a portion of the seed coat attached.  Broken seed larger than one-half the original size with at least a portion of the seed coat attached.

Lab notes:  Samples of this species often contain large percentages of hard seeds; viability of hard seeds can be determined by TZ, or hard seeds can be clipped and chilled with GA3.

Average pure seed units per gram:  44 seeds per gram (based on AOSA pure seed units only from 2 samples received for testing from 1998 to 1999).

Range of percent pure seed:   99%

Range of percent inert:  1%

Description of inert:   Plant material, broken seed.

Planting instructions:  400 seeds, T, 21 days @ 20°C; for fresh and dormant seed, prechill recommended.

References:  (link to main reference page)
Hickman, J.C., Ed.  1993.  p. 644.
Ransom Seed Laboratory

Lupinus succulentus

Lupinus succulentus  Dougl. ex Koch
Arroyo Lupine

Family:  Fabaceae

Habit:  Stout annual, 2 to 10 dm. tall, sparsely hairy.  Flowers are generally blue-purple with a white banner spot.

Distribution:  Abundant in open or disturbed areas on grassy flats and slopes.  California coast ranges from Mendocino County to Baja California and inland to Butte and Shasta Counties.

Seed unit:  Free seed.

Seed:  Oblong, 4 to 5 mm. Distinct in having its hilum terminal and often surrounded by a collar which protrudes outward.  Hard seed coat is often mottled or streaked with dark and light markings. 

Embryo:  Foliar embryo with radical tip at the terminal end of the seed.

Purity instructions:   Pure seed definition: 
AOSA:  PSU #2 - Seed with at least a portion of the seed coat attached.  Broken seed larger than one-half the original size with at least a portion of the seed coat attached.  Separated cotyledons are regarded as inert matter.
ISTA:  PSD #10 - Seed, with or without testa.  Piece of seed larger than one-half the original size, with or without testa.

Average pure seed units per gram:  36 seeds per gram (based on AOSA pure seed units only from 90 samples received for testing from 1992 to 2003).

Range of percent pure seed:  96% to 99%

Range of percent inert:  .01% to 2%

Description of inert:   Broken seed, stone, dirt.

Planting instructions:  400 seeds, T, 18 days @ 20°C; for fresh and dormant seed, prechill recommended.

References:  (link to main reference page)
Hickman, J.C., Ed.  1993.  p. 636.
Munz, P.A. and D.D. Keck.  1968.  p. 813.
Ransom Seed Laboratory

Lotus heermannii

Lotus heermannii (Dur. and Hilg.) Greene
Heermann’s Lotus

Family: Fabaceae 

Habit:  Perennial, with many prostrate stems 3 to 10 dm. long forming mats.

Distribution:  Found on moist banks and canyons below 6000 ft. in washes and riverbanks in coastal sage scrub and foothill chaparral from Sonoma County to San Diego County, California.

Seed unit:  1- to 2-seeded pod; free seed.

Seed:  Oblong, curved, greenish to mottled brown with small hilum.  Often in pods, one-seeded, villous, arcuate with a long uncurved beak.

Embryo:  Foliar, radicle folded, radicle tip at the hilum in the middle of the seed. 

Purity instructions:  Pure seed definition:
AOSA:  PSU#9 - Intact pod, with our without calyx or bracts, whether or not a seed is present. Seed with at least a portion of the seed coat attached. Brocken seed larger than one-half the original size with at least a portion of the seed coat attached.
ISTA: PSD#10 - Seed, with or without testa. Piece of seed larger than one-half the original size, with or without testa.

Average pure seed units per gram:  664 seeds per gram (based on AOSA pure seed units only from 9 samples received for testing from 1997 to 2002). 

Range of percent pure seed:  22% to 89%

Range of percent inert:  10% to 77%

Description of inert:  Plant material, stone, insects.

Planting instructions:  400 seeds, T, 21 days @ 20°C; for fresh and dormant seed, prechill recommended. 

References:  (link to main reference page)
Hickman, J.C., Ed.  1993.  p. 619
Munz, P.A. and D.D. Keck.  1968.  p. 847.
Ransom Seed Laboratory

Amorpha californica

Amorpha californica Nutt.
False indigo

Family:  Fabaceae

Habit:  Deciduous shrub with gland-dotted, heavily scented foliage, 1.5 to 3 m. high.

Distribution:  Found in dry, wooded or brushy slopes below 7500 ft. in yellow pine forests and chaparral of the foothills and mountain ranges in California, Arizona, and northern Baja California.

Seed unit:  Pod, 1- to 2-seeded, exceeding the calyx; indehiscent, 6-8 mm. long, gland-dotted.

Seed:  3 to 4 mm.; oblong or curved, rounded and broadened at apex.  Olive green to brownish, smooth.

Embryo:  Foliar embryo.

Purity instructions:   Pure seed definition: 
AOSA:  PSU #9 – Intact pod, with or without calyx, whether or not a seed is present.  Piece of broken pod larger than one-half of the original size unless no seed is present.  Seed with at least a portion of the seed coat attached.  Broken seed larger than one-half the original size with at least a portion of the seed coat attached. 

Lab notes:  Insect damage on seeds and insect holes in pods usually present.

Average pure seed units per gram:  92 seeds per gram (based on AOSA pure seed units only from 6 samples received for testing from 1994 to 2003).

Range of percent pure seed:   96% to 99%

Range of percent inert:  1% to 3%

Description of inert:   Plant material, broken seed, dead insects.

Planting instructions: 400 seeds, T, 21 days @ 20-30°C; for fresh and dormant seed, prechill recommended.

References:  (link to main reference page)
Hickman, J.C., Ed.  1993.  p. 583.
Munz, P.A. and D.D. Keck.  1968.  p. 852.
Ransom Seed Laboratory