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American Beech

20 years ago

American beech are some of my favorite trees and when i look for their little seeds i find almost likr 95% of them seem to be not viable. when they come out of their case and then you crack the nut open they ar hollow, only a few are good. why is this? is this a man made problem?

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paalexan
20 years ago
I found high percentages viable in southern Indiana, but there's a major confounding factor... squirrels.

Squirrels can tell without opening it if a nut has a seed in it or not. So can you, if you practice a little. Squirrels open the ones with seeds and eat them. Squirrels leave the empty ones alone. If you go through after the squirrels have had their fill, you'll mostly find unopened, empty nuts.

This changes a bit if there's a mast year (when all trees in an area produce much larger amounts of fruit than normal). The squirrels can't eat them all, so the majority of nuts you see will still have seeds in them.

Patrick Alexander
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Thanks Whaas. I'm in Appleton. That Minor's is quite a good place I think. Only been there once, but they did seem to have a lot of stuff. Brandon, thanks also, but can you provide an example of a wholesaler that offers this species in other than lining-out size? I've searched aplenty online, and at least so far, the only outfit offering......or seeming to offer American beech is Nature Hills, about which I know next to nothing. I say 'seeming to' becuase they actually list it out of stock, and also don't seem much inclined to answer questions at the moment. Again, any help you can offer is much appreciated. I'm fine personally with starting out very small, but for some of my work projects, that's not an option. +oM
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