Seed
hideA seed ( /ˈsiːd/ (help·info)), referred to as a kernel in some plants, is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant. The formation of the seed completes the process of reproduction in seed plants (started with the development of flowers and pollination), with the embryo developed from the zygote and the seed coat from the integuments of the ovule.
Seeds have been an important development in the reproduction and spread of flowering plants, relative to more primitive plants like mosses, ferns and liverworts, which do not have seeds and use other means to propagate themselves. This can be seen by the success of seed plants (both gymnosperms and angiosperms) in dominating biological niches on land, from forests to grasslands both in hot and cold climates.
The term seed also has a general meaning that predates the above — anything that can be sown i.e. "seed" potatoes, "seeds" of corn or sunflower "seeds". In the case of sunflower and corn "seeds", what is sown is the seed enclosed in a shell or hull, and the potato is a tuber.
For more information about Seed, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with seeds
Give thanks to the bee
Nov 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- When we sit down to give thanks at the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, we should also be thanking the honey bee.
A biology whodunnit: are rodents helping protect trees from fire?
Nov 12, 2009 |
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Tom Parker has made an unusual find. In California forests and shrubland that burned in 2008, he has spotted Manzanita seedlings sprouting in tight clusters, suggesting that the young shrubs emerged from underground ...
Eating, drinking and lifestyle changes can boost immunity to ward off seasonal flu
Nov 05, 2009 |
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College students looking to stay healthy during flu and exam season need to focus on three very important factors, says a nutritionist at Washington University in St. Louis.
Wild pigs and deer do not spread GM corn via feces or accumulate transgenic residues in meat
Oct 26, 2009 |
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Deer stew, roast of wild boar, venison ragout - come fall, all varieties of game are in season for gourmets. However, ever since the worldwide surge in genetically modified corn, critical consumers' appetites have abated ...
Advance in 'nano-agriculture': Tiny stuff has huge effect on plant growth
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 21, 2009 |
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With potential adverse health and environmental effects often in the news about nanotechnology, scientists in Arkansas are reporting that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could have beneficial effects in agriculture.
Spiraling Flight of Maple Tree Seeds Inspires New Surveillance Technology (w/ Video)
Oct 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Maple tree seeds (or samara fruit) and the spiraling pattern in which they glide to the ground have delighted children for ages and perplexed engineers for decades. Now aerospace engineering ...
Popping the Cork on Biofuel Agriculture
Oct 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified a novel enzyme responsible for the formation of suberin -- the woody, waxy, cell-wall substance ...
Can Nanotubes Help Your Garden Grow?
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- When we think of nanotubes, we often think of solar panels and physical science. However, it appears that nanotubes can also provide valuable help to plants as a fertilizer. Just add carbon ...
Engineered pea seeds protect against parasites
Sep 11, 2009 |
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A breed of pea seeds has been created that contains antibodies against coccidiosis, a disease caused by a parasite that attacks chickens. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biotechnology describe the develo ...
Research could have a green solution for food safety
Aug 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Life in the fruit bowl is no longer the pits, thanks to a University of Alberta researcher.
Higher carbon dioxide may give pines competitive edge
Aug 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Pine trees grown for 12 years in air one-and-a-half times richer in carbon dioxide than today's levels produced twice as many seeds of at least as good a quality as those growing under normal ...
Newspapers: VA in Penn. botched cancer treatments
Jun 22, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Ninety-two veterans were given incorrect radiation doses in a common surgical procedure to treat prostate cancer during a six-year period at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia, according to newspaper ...
Maple seeds and animals exploit the same trick to fly (w/Video)
Jun 11, 2009 |
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The twirling seeds of maple trees spin like miniature helicopters as they fall to the ground. Because the seeds descend slowly as they swirl, they can be carried aloft by the wind and dispersed over great ...
Natural seed treatment could drastically cut pesticide use
Jun 08, 2009 |
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The technology - which makes plants significantly more resistant to pests - has now been licensed for use by US agricultural company Becker Underwood in collaboration with Plant Bioscience Limited.
Solving the mystery of how plants survive near Chernobyl
May 13, 2009 |
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Twenty-two years after the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident in the Ukraine — the worst in history — scientists are reporting insights into the mystery of how plants have managed to adapt and survive ...
