AusBonsai

Bribie Island Pine - Callitris columellaris. I was up in the area last year sometime, and grabbed some seed pods while I was there.

Has anyone grown Callitris from seed at all?

I just can't understand why the seedlings look the way they do. All I can think is that the seed pods are tricking me...

I don't think those are Callitris. Certainly doesn't look like any I have grown and, while the pods look similar, they don't look quite right for Callitris.
Are you certain that the seed pods came from Callitris or did you pick them up from the ground?

I picked them up from underneath the trees.

Thanks Neil, I guess I'll find out what they are if they last a bit longer. Next time I'll see if I can get some from the trees.

Hi Mel,
Agree with Neil, those seed pods don’t look right to be Callitris columellaris. A Mystree?
Cheers
Kirky

KIRKY wrote:Hi Mel,
.... A Mystree?
Cheers
Kirky

Ha! That actually did just make me laugh out loud! I am going to use that from now on Kirky and I reckon it will be one of my better dad-jokes as my daughter calls ‘em. Cheers, Mark


Bonsai teaches me patience.

They're obviously cuckoo seed pods, that were dropped in the same area as the Callitris....

I'll keep one or two growing to see what I've got, then make another trip up to Bribie sometime and see if I can get some pods off the trees themselves, meanwhile, thanks KIRKY, they're definitely mystrees!

You're not the only one who has trouble finding the callitris.

BlackPaul wrote:You're not the only one who has trouble finding the callitris.

Hey BlackPaul,
There are plenty planted in the parklands surrounding the city and along the River Torrens.
Terryb

I've tried growing callitris from seed but haven't had any success yet. I can't find any at nurseries, some say they've never had them and others say their wholesalers don't list them as available. Does anybody know why they are so hard to get hold of?

Another poor soul here who has tried from seed but no success I did read online that some trees may not produce viable seed 1-2 years? anybody else heard of this before? also stratifying in the fridge is another technique I've heard about although haven't tried

There ya go Frank, just down the road from you.

http://burringbarrainforestnursery.com. ... pe=product

I visited there a month or so ago, there are a LOT of trees for sale there!

demps not sure that stratifying would be necessary for sub-tropical trees?

I have successfully grown Callitris from seed. I did stratify for a couple of weeks on the belief that it would provide more even germination (read that somewhere) but other than that, nothing special. Not sure that the stratification actually did anything. I recently collected some seed for a fellow member of the SA Bonsai Society and they had no trouble germinating it either. Might be a case of seed freshness?

Thank you, thank you thank you Mel! I will take a drive up there this week (before the wife gets back from Adelaide)
Cheers, Frank. p.s. If you came to the Gold Coast - Tweed Bonsai show, sorry I missed you.

I've grown or local callitris and a Tas species. They germinate quite readily but getting seed can be the issue. Trees don't always have seed as cones open and drop the seed as soon as it is ripe and they do not seem to have seed every year so sometimes there's nothing to collect.
They are quite slow to grow. The last batch took nearly 12 months in tubes before they were ready to transplant into the ground.
Nursery availability can be a number of factors or a combination: availability of seed, demand from customers (larger trees are not in high demand except for revegetation so look for specialist growers who supply landcare, farms, etc), profit (quick growing lines that sell well are more profitable than slow growers; death rates and leftovers that have not sold and need to be need to be ditched reduce profits)