Evaluation of a Nondestructive Seed Fill Determination Method for Use with Native Juniper Seed

A common nondestructive method to obtain filled seed is to place them in water and select the seeds that sink. We used two techniques to evaluate this method in determining native juniper seed fill. Seeds were placed in water and separated into groups that sank and floated. The fill status of the two groups was determined by opening and visually inspecting the contents of 1000 seeds from each group and by viewing x-ray films of 1935 seeds that sank. Though more filled seeds sank than floated (X^2 = 313.72, p<0.05) and the number of filled seeds observed in opened versus x-rayed seeds did not differ (X^2 = 1.2281, p> 0.05), approximately 30% of seeds that sank were not filled. This error can be attributed to empty seeds that sank having thickened coats. Use of this nondestructive method in conjunction with x-ray eliminated the error and allowed selection of 100% filled seed.