Hey guys,

I literally just created this account, so I am new to how this works. This website seems to have a great community so I'm excited to submit my first thread. I've been doing an internship at Zoo Miami's Conservation and Research Department and one of the things I am looking at, is how gopher tortoises disperse seeds throughout their environment. I am not a botanist nor a plant expert, so I still have around ten species left to ID. I was hoping somebody here could help me ID a couple of them! Thank you so much. The images I am attaching are all from one specific seed found in a sample. Thank you!

Best,
Adrian

Hi Adrian,

I have no idea what plant that seed came from but someone may be along shortly with suggestions!

It might help if you could tell us the size of the seed and where the tortoise was living.

Adrian, are the gopher tortoises in an exhibit? Is this the zoo that is in S Kendall?

Gopher Tortoises are a threatened species here in Florida and their burrows are protected by law: http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabit...

We see them on occasion in our yards and crossing the road. Folks in the community stop their vehicles to allow them to cross the road.

A unusual, even unique question! You may have to grow the seeds to identify them.

There is a site which shows images of many (but not all) seeds. Each image of seeds is in a one-inch circle.
http://theseedsite.co.uk/allse...

It would be good to know more about the tortoises in question. Where do they live. Are they running free or does someone feed them? What is their range? Stuff like that.

Also, yes, a size reference for the seed would be most helpful.

I keep looking at those photos and "Seed" is just not clicking with my brain. I know that you said it's passed through a tortoise but I'm curious about all those visible ridges. Did the "seed" exit the turtle in that manner or has it been dissected which caused that appearance? I wondered if it might be part of a Cat Briar rhizome? I read that Saw Greenbrier (Smilax bona-nox) is part of the diet of Tortoises and other animals but I don't know if a Tortoise eats the rhizome/roots and again, I'm stymied by the "seed" in the photo.

I found a list of normal foods for these tortoises:
wiregrass, grasses, asters and legumes, daisies, clover, peas, cat briar, blueberries and palmetto berries, stinging nettle, prickly pear cactus.

I almost went blind looking at each individual seed for this list of plants and can't find a match.

We need more information about where the tortoise has been.

When I first saw the seed, my first thought was that they must fit together into a circular cluster. I suspected Sida rhombifolia,

http://zipcodezoo.com/index.ph...

Similar, but not that one.

Whatever it is, we will need a size reference just to narrow it down (I think).

Thank you all for your kind and helpful messages! rattlebox, your post actually helped me identify another species that I was looking for, so thank you very much! The seeds are a bit wider than 1mm.

These tortoises are wild and live on the surrounding zoo property.

crawgarden said:Adrian, are the gopher tortoises in an exhibit? Is this the zoo that is in S Kendall?

Woah! That's awesome, plantladylin. Yea, here at the zoo we have all of the necessary permits to work with the tortoises.

plantladylin said:Gopher Tortoises are a threatened species here in Florida and their burrows are protected by law:

We see them on occasion in our yards and crossing the road. Folks in the community stop their vehicles to allow them to cross the road.

Have you tried planting the seeds to see whether they will grow?

Thank you so much rattlebox. Although this is not the species that I posted above, it is actually another species I was having trouble identifying. THANK YOU!

rattlebox said:When I first saw the seed, my first thought was that they must fit together into a circular cluster. I suspected Sida rhombifolia,

Similar, but not that one.

Not yet. First I have to do viability testing. I just want to identify as many as possible before I actually move forward with the viability and germination trial. The reason being that I want to have an idea of what the species' are in case if they don't germinate or are not viable.

porkpal said:Have you tried planting the seeds to see whether they will grow?

Cool work, that you do @Adrian721. I love tortoises, terrapins, and turtles! You have a bunch of plant experts on here to help. (I'm not one of them.) Good luck.

Thank you for your kind words. I really appreciate it. This website has a lovely community!

ShadyGreenThumb said:Cool work, that you do @Adrian721. I love tortoises, terrapins, and turtles! You have a bunch of plant experts on here to help. (I'm not one of them.) Good luck.

They are really cool people here, agree.