Thanks Oldned and Carol. That's it. I couldn't remember what the foliage looked like and with such a distinctive seed pod and seeds I figured someone would be able to give me an ID. Oldned one of my DH's tropical plant suppliers is located on Merritt Island.

OK. Maybe I've got it all wrong. When the pods (which are red--although this may vary-- I suppose) turn brown on the plant, they are full of small black seeds. Once the pod dries up and opens up one can collect the small seeds inside. What I don't have clear yet is...if these are not the seeds, then, which are the seeds? I have grown Castor beans for a couple of years and all I have seen is the red pods full of small black seeds. Wish I knew how to post a picture here to be more explicit. Now I am really confused--maybe that is why I can't germinate them--maybe they are not the seeds after all. Thanks so much for discussing this.

I've kept hips for several years and the seeds still germinated for me. You can try soaking them but it might not help. Rose hips are very hard. I just use a good sharp knife an cut them open. Don't worry about cutting the seeds, they're even harder than the hips! After you get them out of the hip clean them really well to get all the bits of hip material off of them. It's thought that there is some kind of enzyme in the hip material that inhibits germination. I put them in a fine sieve and scrub them against the sides under running water. Again, this won't hurt them. Then you can soak them in some hydrogen peroxide for a few minutes. This will keep some of the mold down. Wrap them in a damp paper towel, seal the towel in a plastic zip bag and put them in your fridge for a few weeks. When you check them don't be worried if there's mold on the towel. It doesn't hurt them and there are some studies they say certain molds aid in germination. If they've germinated you'll be able to tell easily. The little greenish white root will be sticking out of the seed. Carefully get the seed out of the paper towel and put it in seed starting mix. If you have starter trays that works best. If not start it in a cup but make sure it's starter soil not potting soil. I don't pot up to potting soil until they have at least 2 sets of true leaves. Put it under lights if you have them. If not in your sunniest window. Like the others have said it will not be "The Doctor" but it's own new variety and depending on how it was pollinated can look behave totally different. Have fun!

Chris and tropical I'm in Ft Lauderdale too, I have 2 different types of trees. 1 is a yellow pod and 1 is an orange pod. I got mine from Pine Island nursery. you can mail order or you can drive there, not far at all if you go through the everglades, Rt 29. They are in Homestead off of Chrome Ave and nicely priced. bought my 1st over a year ago, it was only a few inches tall, grew 4 feet in the first year. the second was already that tall when I bought it a few months ago. they also have LOTS of other really neat fruit and spice trees,as does excalibur I am starting to grow some from cuttings. my trees I don't bring inside for the winter though