I believe that in their natural environment Salvia D rarely makes seed and why perhaps when we grow it ourselves, it is a rare occasion Salvia D will seed.
If you read Daniel Siebert's account he was able to retrieve 75-85 seeds in one instance. The plant hadn't produced seeds before and it hasn't since. It is believable that under strained conditions Salvia D could make seeds just like the above- probably what happened to the plant in the first place- somehow it was either pollinated by insects or the plant somehow believed it was going to die and had to produce seed for future survival. And possibly why we come to the thinking that Salvia D in its natural environment doesn't need to create seed to multiply, regenerate, etc.
Accounts of its natural growth in its original habitat, find that once the plant gets to be about eight feet tall and thus too heavy to stand falls on the humus groun and 'dies'. Salvia D has an amazing regenerative property- the plant can root all along its stem. Therefore when it falls on the ground, on that very moist and humid ground, the plant roots all along its eight foot stem and creates a plant at each leaf node. Salvia d can flower, but it doesn't need to create seed.
A plant will often create seed at the end of its life cycle. Annuals are such that once the winter comes, they must let go of their seed in hopes of coming back the next year. Many hybrids lose the ability to make seed through the hybridization process (biology 101). Perrenials make seed but rarely need to make them as they know they will come back the next spring (plant knowledge and thought have been widely recorded). I make the conclusion that because Salvia D has created a method of procreation, or asexual production that doesn't rely on seed production, pollination etc, the plant has no natural instinction to make seed.
If one were to read (and the name of the book is forgotten) but quite famous on the method in which some plants have survived and made themselves important to human life thereby making their genetic and growing vital to themselves and humans. The life cycle of orange? In this book the author Michael? correctly states that Cannibus sativa in the 1970's moved indoors and in so doing creating a flower product unseen in outdoor conditions. In a strained environment Cannibus sativa has reached its utmost potential. And this idea was also brought up by a comment posted for another blog of mine but that in essense a seed from the Paradox plant (the only strain to come from seed) should have a potentcy that in conditions of a strained variety should outreach regular levels of Salvanorin A.
While i agree it is possible to produce seed from Salvia if the right strained conditions were put upon the plant, but whether their viability is true, is questionable. Of the 85 seeds that were produced from a friend of Daniel Sieberts, only 10 survived germination and six of those that went on to grow as successful plants. And while those six plants, strain not mentioned, were successfully grown from their seed and their genetic code must be pure, these plants technically should be able to produce seed again under the same conditions. But this is all hypothesis. For biology 101 will tell you, the viability of seed goes back to the mother plant. Crossing genetics can provide more offspring but whether their genetic code is healthy, is again questionable.
For what i have learned from seed pollination of Cannibus sativa (second hand knowledge) it takes six generations to produce a seed that is viable to the strain of the mother plant. Six generations! With statistics like those seed pollination and production of Salvia D could create more and more genetic variations and possibly create a real viable seed for growth, but with lots of variables. But we must also attribute the method in which Cannibus sativa in its natural environment reproduces itself.
Plant knowledge and instincts go back to its evolutionary process, much like our own. How we know to make babies comes from hundreds of generations and it didn't take long for humans to figure out the best and most profficient way to make offspring. And so has Cannibus. Seed. Cannibus can be made from cuttings but after 22 generations of cuttings the plant is now a retarded genetic variation of its mother plant. With Salvia D, seed production is not the method in which it regenerates. Though research into the mint family and genetic proficiency with cousin strains should be analized. Salvia D falls and generates itself from its stem, which in its environment knows that this method is the fastest and easiest method to survive.
So while i believe in seed generation in Salvia D plants, I do not rely on seeds to further its evolutionary process. Although i feel as i write this, i am wrong in this thinking. But grafting? Could we graft Salvia D to a plant that produces seed with efficiency? Would we lose Salvanorin A potentcy? And could we physically graft Salvia D onto another plant? With its soft stem, i'm afraid of rotting, but then again we can graft cactus' on to each other, another quite rotty plant element there with success. We'll have to wait and see if Salvia D can spread itself genetically to survive into human evolution further- is it as vital as tulips, potatoes, Cannibus, and the apple?
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