[babkalinda]

I found this seed pod in the main street Lefkada town yesterday. There were no plants or trees around to guess where it might have come from. Of course I picked it up and thought I might try to germinate the seeds. The pods are reddish brown and iron hard, some splitting open, the seeds are yellow now and sticky. Now there are 4 pods but one had already broken off. It would be nice to know what it is.

[oron peri]

This is the seed pod of Brachychiton populneus

[MikeHardman]

I've had good success germinating these seeds, also gleaned from fallen pods.

They make good trees for stabilizing slopes, getting by without water, and (being evergreen) giving shade year-round. Nice flowers, too, though I get the feeling many folks walking the pavements under them fail to look up and notice.
I also like them because they provide an audio-substitute for bamboo in the med. climate - I like the rustling noise the leaves make in the breeze. The leaves are fairly tough, hence relatively undamaged by pests and 'clean' to sit under.

Also, they are fairly narrow in outline, which brings some benefits, such as:
- When stabilizing a slope, you can use more trees per given area - giving more effective distribution of roots through the soil.
- A carefully-spaced planting can provide shade (from the inclined sunlight) while giving the ground a view of the sky - and hence giving you a chance to grow something there year-round. ...Which could be a very useful part of a slope stabilization strategy. (More wide-spreading, deciduous, shade trees may lead one towards a winter-spring display at ground level.)
- They can be used to make fairly narrow avenues, for paths or drives. But, in some such situations, I don't know how likely their roots are to disturb foundations/drains/etc.

Here's a tree showing off its lovely flowers in Polis, Cyprus (they come in various shades).

[babkalinda]

Thanks guys. Swift identifications and super photo with all that extra information. Certainly worth picking up that seed pod in the street. Description makes me want to do my best to germinate and grow.

[Chantal]

Be careful when you touch the seeds inside the pod, they are very stinging.

[Alisdair]

That sounds like bitter personal experience, Chantal!

[MikeHardman]

The danger is the hairs on the seeds / in the seed pods, as mentioned here, for instance http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2113/.
They behave like an Opuntia's glochids.
The photo here gives some idea what we're talking about. [Thanks to 'shyzaboy' on Flickr.]

I didn't know about that, Chantal; thanks for mentioning it. I guess I was lucky with the seeds I collected. Or maybe my seed pod had been on the ground for long enough, degraded by rain and dirt, that I was able to extract the seeds without the hairs.

Various web pages suggest soaking the seeds for 12 hours before sowing. I guess the need to do that depends on how dried the seeds have become. I suspect there is not a deeper dormancy that needs to be overcome. I sowed my seeds outside in a pot in October and they had germinated by the spring.

This is an interesting comment on the dangers (the discussion is about eating the seeds, by the way):

by PeterHardwick » Fri Jun 29, 2007 2:34 am
Just a word of WARNING in regards to processing any Brachychiton species - there are irritant hairs on the husks surrounding the seed within the pod. Certainly this is considered to be a major concern in the Bundjalung culture, especially with regards to eye protection.
Also, the yellow coating around the seed contains a toxin. So the yellow coating is scraped off with a thumbnail, and for back up the toxin is reported to be destroyed by roasting. I've consumed the roasted seed in drinks, but it's been awhile, and I hardly remember the flavour. However, I do remember it clogging-up the coffee grinder (probably because the seed is a bit oily).  
I once found a Flame tree, Brachychyton acerfolius, that produced a seed free of the yellow coating entirely. Probably a random mutation. It's worth keeping an eye open for these, as Flame trees are fairly easy to graft.

(http://www.bushfood.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=585)