and seed production is rather uniform over the entire area. In older 

 marshes, there is little flowering and seed production in thick stands 

 of the short -height zone, but some seed are produced by the tall form 

 along creek banks. In such places, harvesting seed is inefficient because 

 the total area is small. 



Since the quality and quantity of seed is variable, inspection of 

 potential harvest sites is necessary each year. Variations in rainfall 

 and other climatic conditions apparently affect seed production. Infes- 

 tation by flower beetles (family Moredellidae) may also reduce the seed 

 crop in some areas. 



b. Harvesting and Processing . An adequate supply of seed for small- 

 scale experiments can be obtained by simply cutting the seed heads by 

 hand. For large field plantings, a more efficient means of harvesting 

 large quantities is desirable. To accomplish this task, a mechanical 

 harvester was developed which consists of a sickle bar blade, a reel, 

 and a canvas bag or tray for catching the seed heads. The apparatus was 

 mounted on a two-wheel garden tractor (Fig. 12) . The machine works best 

 in large areas of seed heads of uniform height. After cutting, seed 

 heads were wrapped in burlap sheets and returned to the laboratory where 

 they were stored temporarily in a cold room (2° to 3° Centigrade) until 

 they could be threshed. A threshing machine, previously used for small - 

 grain plot work, was used to separate the spikelets from the straw. This 

 leaves nearly all seeds still in the spikelets (glumes, lemma, and palea) . 

 The threshing procedure reduced the storage space required for keeping 

 the seed over winter (Figs. 13 through 16). Germination studies indicate 

 that seed should be harvested as near maturity as possible, but it is 

 often necessary to compromise on complete maturity since many seed may be 

 lost due to natural shattering if harvesting is delayed too long. 



c. Storage and Laboratory Testing . A study by Mooring, Cooper and 

 Seneca (1971) showed that 52 percent of S. alterniflova seed germinated 

 when subjected to a 18° to 35° Centigrade diurnal thermoperiod after 

 storage in sea water at 6° Centigrade for 8 months. Seed stored dry 

 during the same period did not remain viable. In the beginning of our 

 studies, we tested the effect of several storage treatments on germination. 

 Seed of S. alterniflova were collected from five locations along the North 

 Carolina coast (Fig. 17) and samples from each location were subjected to 

 the following storage treatments: (1) submerged in estuarine water at 



2° to 3° Centigrade, (2) submerged in distilled water at 2° to 3° Centi- 

 grade, (3) suspended over water on screen wire at 2° to 3° Centigrade, 

 (4) frozen dry, (5) frozen in estuarine water, and (6) freeze-dried. 

 Salinity of the estuarine water was between 20 and 25 parts per thousand. 



Germination was tested in February 1970 by placing 50 seeds, which 

 were disinfected by soaking in a 25 percent Clorox solution for 15 minutes, 

 on moist filter paper in a petri dish. Three replicates of seed from each 

 treatment and location were prepared with a replicate consisting of a 

 petri dish of 50 seeds. Careful selection was made to be reasonably sure 

 a seed was present within each spikelet. The petri dishes containing the 



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