Next time you are out exploring the Maine woods and see a moose, deer, bear or other large animal, take a moment and thank a native plant. Those plants may be at the bottom of the food chain, but without them the animals at the top would be in big trouble.
Native species of flowers, grasses, ferns and trees have grown here and co-evolved over millennia with the area’s insects, amphibians and animals. It created an ecosystem where from the top down everything is eating something it evolved with. And it all starts with the plants.
As Maine became increasingly settled, native plants got pushed aside in favor of the imported greenery, flowers and trees used in landscaping. Today, some of those native species are just hanging on and can use a helping hand. One way to do that, according to experts, is by collecting their seeds for replanting.
“The big thing we talk about with seed collecting is not just collecting — it’s more about collecting and planting,” said Emily Baisden, seed program manager at The Wild Seed Project in North Yarmouth. “Just holding on to seeds will not get more plants into the wild and our native species are disappearing.”
Not only does collecting and planting native species seeds help the plants repopulate, it promotes greater genetic diversity.
“So many of the plants we buy at landscaping or garden stores are not genetically unique,” Baisden said. “But each seed you gather in the wild will be unique.”
That genetic individuality helps plants adjust and quickly adapt to changing environmental conditions that would kill off domesticated plants.
When to collect
Seeds from different species and even varieties within the same species are going to ripen at different times, Baisden said. So it’s important to observe the plants long enough to see when it’s time to collect the seeds.
“I tell people to get to know the plant for an entire year,” Baisden said. “Become familiar with how it looks when it’s young, when it’s flowering, when it’s going to seed and when the seeds ripen.”
For plants like asters, goldenrod or Joe Pye weed the time to collect seeds is when the fluffy seed “heads” are brown and come off easily when you gently rub the fluffy part.
Timing is key not just in terms of ripeness.
“There are a lot of things that eat seeds and berries,” Baisden said. “It’s easy to wait patiently and then go out to collect seeds and see that something has beaten you to them.”
What to collect
Seeds come in a variety of forms including berries, capsules, catkins, cones, nuts and pods.
When collecting seeds, regardless of form, it’s essential to never take them all from one area, Baisden said. Instead, collect seeds from several different spots. This will help promote genetic diversity.
“Even when there is a really solid population of a native plant my rule of thumb is never to take more than 5 percent of that seed population,” she said. “It seems like a small amount, but when you consider plants that produce thousands and thousands of seeds, it really is a lot.”
Most importantly, make sure you have landowners’ permission before collecting any seeds on property that is not yours.
Storing the seeds
How long seeds can be stored depends on the species and varies from a few months to centuries.
Seeds from lupines, clover, sweet peas and other legume-type flowers can survive a very long time when stored properly — up to 1,000 years according to botanists. They just need to be kept dry and in a temperature controlled space.
“I like to collect these kinds of seeds right into a paper bag,” Baisden said. “Then I just put the bag in an area of constant temperature where the seeds won’t mold.”
After a few months those seeds can be put into jars with lids and stored in the refrigerator or freezer.
But other seeds only have shorter storage periods. Seeds that are encased in berries like dogwood or cherry trees should not dry out. They should be stored moist in a plastic bag or container in damp vermiculite or sand and refrigerated. They will stay viable for several months.
“Collecting seeds from native plants to sow later supports our ecosystem,” Baisden said. “Without or native plants we would see a massive biodiversity loss that would go right up the food chain.”
