Friday The 13th - Yet Another Oca Shocker

Roamin in the gloamin at Oca Acres yesterday, I noticed that one of my seed catching envelopes was hanging in a somewhat forlorn manner. Closer inspection revealed the reason - the pedicel bearing the pod had shrivelled and turned black, leaving the envelope dangling like a limp wrist.  In the strong breeze, it looked precariously close to detachment. As the damn thing had obviously failed in its job, I removed it.   I could see, snug at the bottom, a shrivelled pod, just like the unfertilised ones that seem to have been dropping off the plants in depressing quantities. I was all set to consign the whole kit and caboodle to the compost heap when the dying rays of the sun revealed more: some freshly-minted oca seeds, backlit by the yellow light.  091710 has produced the first seeds of the season.  May the season be long and the harvest bountiful.

Comments

Mark said…
These seeds look very very small! No wonder you can lose them
Unknown said…
I had been planning to bag any pods that 'looked fertilised'. But what I'm going to take away from this is to bag all fading flowers, whether they look fertilised or not. I wonder how much oca seed has been set in the UK that has just gone completely unnoticed.

Still no more flowering here, but the weather has turned cooler and showery, so I'm watching and waiting.
Rhizowen said…
Mark - yes, I'm afraid, very small and easily lost, although I keep discovering more oca seedlings appearing in unexpected places.

Ian - the pods really are pretty nondescript and are easily missed. It is quite likely that seeds have been produced before and have scattered about unseen. I can easily imagine any seedlings being hoed off as they look just like Oxalis corniculata. No big obvious fruits as in the case of the potato. Good luck with the "improved" weather you've been getting. Let me know when the pods start to appear.