Family:
Berberidaceae
Common Name(s):
Blue cohosh
Flowering Time:
May
Fruit/Seed Maturation Sign:
Fruit turns blue
Fruit/Seed Collection Dates:
Early September
Seed Cleaning:
None required
Storage:
Intolerant of dry storage (Cullina 2000)
Restoration Potential:
Medium to low by seed (requires patience)
Notes
Scarify seed (nick or cut a slit in seed coat); sow in fall outside or cold stratify in moist sphagnum until planting following spring; expect to see seedlings 2 years after planting (Mabry 2023).
Of 330 seeds planted in a central Iowa demographic study, 83 (25%) germinated and 45 plants survived to year 5; 18 flowered after an average of 10 years (Mabry 2023); scarify seeds (seedcoat very hard); no germination until year 2 (Mabry, personal observation).
Produces few seeds per plant with low vegetative spread (Barkely 1986, Gleason and Cronquist 1991, Cullina 2000); rootstock knotty and thickened (Runkel and Bull 2009).
