All About Seeds

All About Seeds

Seeds come in different sizes, shapes, and
colors. Some can be eaten and some can't.
Some seedsgerminate easily while others need
certain conditions to be met before they will
germinate.
Do you know that within every seed lives a tiny
plant or embryo? You can hold in your hand 500
radishes, many thousands of petunias, or an
entire meadow if you remember that each seed
is a plant!

Seeds come in different sizes, shapes, and colors. Some can be eaten and some
cant. Some seeds germinate easily while others need certain conditions to be met
before they will germinate.

Do you know that within every seed lives a tiny plant or embryo? You can hold in
your hand 500 radishes, many thousand of petunias, or an entire meadow if your
remember that each seed is a plant.
Each of these seeds is a tiny plant

Seeds travel! They can't just get up and walk to

a new location, but structures on the seed may
allow it to move to a new location. Some of the
moving forces might be wind, water, animals,
and gravity. Look at the seeds below and think
about how they might travel from place to
place.

Seeds travel! They cant just get up and walk to a new location, but structures on
the seed may allow it to move to a new location. Some of the moving forces might
be wind, water, animals, and gravity. Look at the seeds below and think about how
they might travel from place to place.

Seed Structure

The outer covering of a seed is called the seed

coat. Seed coats help protect the embryo from
injury and also from drying out. Seed coats can
be thin and soft as in beans or thick and hard
as in locust or coconut seeds. Endosperm, a
temporary food supply, is packed around the
embryo in the form of special leaves
called cotyledons or seed leaves. These

generally are the first parts visible when the

seed germinates.
Plants are classified based upon the number of
seed leaves (cotyledons) in the seed. Plants such
as grasses can be monocots, containing one
cotyledon. Dicots are plants that have two
cotyledons.

Germination

Some seeds require proper light also. Some

germinate better in full
light while others require
darkness to germinate.
When a seed is

Seeds remain dormant or inactive until

conditions are right for germination. All seeds
need water, oxygen, and proper temperature in
order to germinate. Some seeds require proper
light also. Some germinate
better in full light while
others require darkness to
germinate.
When a seed is exposed to
the proper conditions,
water and oxygen are taken in through the seed
coat. The embryo's cells start to enlarge. Then
the seed coat breaks open and a root
or radicle emerges first, followed by the shoot
or plumule that contains the leaves and stem.
Many things can cause poor germination.
Overwatering causes the plant to not have
enough oxygen. Planting seeds too deeply causes
them to use all of their stored energy before

reaching the soil surface. Dry conditions mean

the plant doesn't have enough moisture to start
the germination process and keep it going.
Some seed coats are so hard that water and
oxygen cannot get through until the coat breaks
down. Soaking or scratching the seeds will help
break down the seed coat. Morning glories and
locust seeds are examples. Other seeds need to
be exposed to proper temperatures. Apple seeds
will not germinate unless they are held at cold
temperatures for a period of time.

Nonflowering Plants
Nonflowering plants like ferns reproduce by
"seed-like" structures called spores. Spores are
usually found on the undersides of leaves and
look like tiny tufts of velvet. Spores are ripe
when they easily fall off the leaf. You may
want to try to germinate them but it takes a
long time for germination and for a plant to
develop.

What Is a Seed?
In Case #1 you discovered that the seed of a
plant allows it to reproduce--that is, make more

plants like itself. Detective Le Plant has found

that seeds come in hundreds of shapes and
sizes. The purpose of all seeds is reproduction.
Help Sprout and Bud discover the plants that
come from the following seeds.

Which of the following plants grows from a pea

seed (click on the picture)?

While you're solving the mysteries, pay special

attention to these key ideas:

 Seeds can remain alive over a long period of

time, but they only grow when there are the
proper conditions.
Some seeds have special structures that let
them move from one place to another.
Seeds have different shapes, sizes, colors,
and patterns.
Seeds have special needs that must be met
to germinate.
Seeds have specific parts.