That's good advice since I'm not on the SS's good side anyway... I shouldn't mail them some custom-made lightning-bolt armbands with a note saying I have 'evil' trees, eh? :-P
But I'm way out in the middle of nowhere, and I just found 2 more of them along the edge of my property. Total of 3 then. 2 of them look like they're at least 4 years old, the other is smaller maybe 2 years old. It isn't flowering at all but the larger two are. I'll just work with them where they are.
They aren't growing too well. They're survivng, but that's about it. The biggest one might be 6 years old, and is barely 8 feet tall. Really long thin branches with sparse foliage. I live on top of a rather high sandy ridge, Triadica Sebifera prefers lower mashy soil, and this is just a big sand trap... I can't even grow weeds here. I doubt I could propogate them even if I tried.
But the small size will make them nice study samples. When the fruits/seeds produce in the fall, I'll have a nice small plant to experiment with harvesting. And I can shoot the birds with my Son's BB gun so they don't spread it... yeah... that's a good excuse... ;-)
I was thinking of a large tarp/canvass that was sloped to one side and had a hole in the middle for the trunk to fit. High side about 5 feet up, low side on the ground/in a trough to collect the falling seeds. Maybe shake them out to expedite. They're small and flimsy enough that I can do it by hand without a machine. Yield won't be useful, but it's a plan for experimentation.
It seems little is supposedly know about how it propogates. Or rather, they don't want to talk about it cuz someone might start doing it.
I have a 12 ton hydraulic shop press. I figure I'll make up some steel tubing, capped, and a piston for a small scale pressing deal, and see how it goes come fall. Come to think of it.... A galvanized pipe nipple with an end cap, and a piece of loose-fitting steel bar as a piston.
Now all I need is a Lister......... I wish I had the money to snatch up the 24/2 that's for sale less than 65 miles from my house....