Beginner Gardening: Pyracantha and holly seed germination, 0 by deepseas72

deepseas72 wrote:
Are the seeds within Pyracantha and Holly berries viable for sowing? If so, how do you go about it? It seems that if it were an easy process, you would see seedlings beneath the parent trees, since they produce so many thousands of berries, yet that has never been the case for me. I read that the berry contains agents that inhibit germination....I am guessing that this is probably so that the multitude of seeds aren't competing with the parent tree, but rather being ingested by birds and then dispersed elsewhere? I know that with our local Magnolia grandiflora you have to soak the seed berries for a few days and then rub the casing off, at which point the seed itself is only viable for a few weeks.