Determination it is

[AnTTun]

My pyrrhocactus saxifragus had a fruit last year. Each time I've checked it seemed too soft, and it was reddish, so I left it alone.

I touched it today with my fingertip and it fell off, still kinda soft and red. So I had no choice but to take seeds out. At first I thought green stuff was a part of fruit inner tissue untill I took closer look. The seed started to germinate inside the fruit...

[Diane]

Well, you've got a head start there! Stick 'em in some soil and hope for the best!

[Tina]

Hi Anttun
Thats too easy, no wait involved, worth the wait

[Liz M]

That's amazing. What will you do with all those seedlings?

[Brian]

Not seen that before. He he my thought as well Elizabeth.

[DaveW]

I believe it is known as endogenous vivipary and is well known in what used be called the Neoporteria or Horridocactus group. Endogenous = growing or originating from within an organism + vivipary = producing seeds that germinate on the plant.

I used to find it quite often in those fruits in years past. As red is supposed to have an effect on germination I sometimes wonder whether the light shining through the ripe red fruit wall helps germination?

It is also known in Epiphyllum also is some other non cactaceous plants.

See:-

https://academic.oup.com/jxb/article/58 ... -epiphytic

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21636523

viewtopic.php?t=118804&start=10

[Ali Baba]

It also happens with melocactus matanzanus if you don't open up the ripe fruit quickly enough


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[AnTTun]

Welllll.. I always thought fruit should dry first. Obviously I was quite wrong. Thanks for all the info.

[Bob Sobelman]

good luck antun

[BrianMc]

As Dave has mentioned, it is sometimes observed in Epiphyllum. Here is a pic of one of my plants taken a while ago. In this instance the fruit had been on the plant more than a year and was over ripe. A fact I had missed because I had expected it to change to a more reddish colour. I also wonder if this feature in Epiphyllum is restricted to the hybrids rather than true species and therefore anomalies that occur in cultivation would probably not exist in the wild. The prolonged time in the fruit and partial fermentation perhaps reduced the effect of germination inhibiters.
Unfortunately, my neat slice through the fruit also sliced through seeds and germinated seedlings alike.

How old is your fruit? I have not seen the phenomenon in pyrrhocactus or eriosyce. However, drawing attention the point that it is difficult to ascertain readiness, a factor with many of these fruits of closely related cacti is that they look ripe and enticing and ready to be eaten, but they are in fact hollow and dry. Unlike Lobivia/Echinopsis type cacti seed that are distributed by ants (providing a sugary funicle as an enticement) and Mammillaria types with juicy berries to be eaten and passed through the gut of a bird, I have come to the conclusion that these brightly coloured, dry fruits have evolved to attract birds. As the fruit is too big to be eaten in one go the bird will pull the fruit off the plant and fly to somewhere it feels safe in the anticipation of pecking away at a juicy meal. The truth of the matter is that the base of the hollow fruit has a little hole where it is removed from the plant and as the bird flies away, seeds will be distributed en route. Obviously the bird would soon realise there was nothing of any interest in the fruit and drop it, after which the fruit could be blown around by winds, releasing seed as it goes. I have an old slide somewhere highlighting the hole at the base of the fruit, but can't put my hand on it at the moment.



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