Trichostema lanatum

Trichostema lanatum Benth.
Woolly bluecurls, Romero

Family:  Lamiaceae

Habit:  Shrub 5 to 15 dm. tall, rounded, many-branched, strong-scented.  Flowers in dense, violet- to purplish, woolly, interrupted spikes.

Distribution:   Found on dry slopes, chaparral, coast ranges near the California coast from Monterey and San Benito County to Baja California.

Seed unit:   Nutlet.

Seed:   Fruit with 2 to 4 nutlets, each 2 to 4 mm. long, irregularly reticulate, minutely hirsute.  (Individual nutlets are considered the seed unit.)

Embryo:  Linear.

Purity instructions:   Pure seed definition: 
AOSA:  PSU #10 – Intact nutlet, whether or not a seed is present.  Piece of broken nutlet larger than one-half of the original size, unless no seed is present.  Seed, with or without seed coat.  Piece of broken seed, with or without seed coat, larger than one-half the original size.

Lab notes:  Seeds of this species are often deeply dormant; a TZ test may be used to determine viability of firm, ungerminated seeds.

Average pure seed units per gram:  605 seeds per gram (based on AOSA pure seed units only from 31 samples received for testing from 1999 to 2005).

Range of percent pure seed:   11 to 75%

Range of percent inert:  23 to 87%

Description of inert:   Plant material, sticks, dirt, broken seed, stone.

Planting instructions:  400 seeds, TB, 21 days @ 15°C; for fresh and dormant seed, GA3 recommended.

References:  (link to main reference page)
Hickman, J.C., Ed.  1993.  p. 732.
Munz, P.A. and D.D. Keck.  1968.  p. 693.
Ransom Seed Laboratory

Salvia mellifera

Salvia mellifera E. Greene
Black sage

Family: Lamiaceae 

Habit: Purple-flowered shrub, 1 to 2 m.; hairy, glandular.

Distribution: Commonly scattered about chaparral from coastal mesas, hills and mountains in central western California to northern Baja California, Mexico.

Seed unit: Nutlet, 2 to 3 mm.            

Seed:  Ovoid compressed-triangular, surface marbled, spotted, brownish.

Embryo: Embryo spatulate, well-developed cotyledons, very little or no endosperm.

Purity instructions:  Pure seed definition:
AOSA:  PSU#10 - Intact nutlet, whether or not a seed is present. Piece of broken nutlet larger than one-half of the original size, unless no seed is present. Seed, with or without seed coat.

Lab notes: Mature-sized nutlets are often empty.

Average pure seed units per gram:  1,270 seeds per gram (based on AOSA pure seed units only from 107 samples received for testing from 1992 to 2002).

Range of percent pure seed:  39% to 99%

Range of percent inert:  1% to 60%

Description of inert:  Broken seed, plant material.

Planting instructions:  400 seeds, TB, 21 days @ 15° to 25°C; for fresh and dormant seed, 15°C and GA3 recommended.                     

References:  (link to main reference page)
Hickman, J.C., Ed.  1993.  p. 728.
Ransom Seed Laboratory