Even though I have been in my internship for almost 3 months, this week I got my first crack at seed collecting. Since my internship is with the USGS, we have been doing mostly plant ecology research field work this summer, not Seeds of Success. However, my mentor is considering doing some sort of analysis on Joshua Tree, Yucca brevifolia, seeds which I have not gotten the full explanation yet. So this week I got to collect some Y. brevifolia seeds from the Parashant National Monument in Arizona, near where some of our research plots are for a different project. Prior to this adventure, I had no experience with collecting seeds/fruits off of trees without a ladder or some other way of getting taller to pick them. So when my mentor told me to take a long stick and knock the fruit off the tree carefully I was a little unsure how this was going to work! After observing the fruits 10 to 15 feet above the ground for a while and wondering if I had the skill to get them, I decided to take a whack at it. Here is a picture of my attempt:

This is actually a staged shot that was taken post-collecting! We found a really short tree with no fruits on it near the side of the road as we were driving back to the office because I forgot to get a photo earlier. But I think it still gets the point across. I was very careful to not injure any leaves during this trial of collecting, and we gathered over 50 fruits for my mentor. Also, the leaves of the Joshua Tree are very pointy, but I was sure to not get pricked at all! The seeds are now drying back at the USGS office, and once they are ready, I am sure that I will begin the next step in the process of whatever type of analysis we will be running.