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Seeds, living links to past plant generations, represent earth’s most valuable asset. Capsules of life, and
plants produced, provide food for innumerable wild and domesticated creatures as well as mankind’s ever-increasing
numbers.
Varying in size from tiny petunias to hefty coconuts, seeds provide not only food but habitat. Earth’s mysterious
food-producing seeds continued from the planet’s beginning until the present time.
Inner pressure ruptures a seed’s outer covering, and plant production begins. A root, growing larger, moves downward
to anchor the developing plant, while a stem emerging above the soil surface begins to fashion leaves. Each seed,
equipped with a starter food supply, nourishes a developing plant until new growth becomes established.
Even though seeds require germinating moisture, an excessive amount can be fatal. Seeds, living entities, require
survival oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. Growth which is surrounded by standing water dies from lack of air
to breathe.
Gestation, the time interval between sown seed and emerging plant, varies from species to species. Radish seeds,
for example, may produce plants within a week or less, depending upon weather conditions. Parsley seeds, slow starters,
may require four weeks or more. Soaking seeds overnight in tepid tap water reduces the gestation period.
Blossom pollination, a vital seed and plant production method, divides roughly into two major categories: open-pollinated
and hybridization. Open-pollination, a process used by nature for untold centuries, requires honeybees and other
nectar-seeking insects to transfer pollen from one blossom to another.
Hybridization, or cross-pollination by hand from one genetically-compatible plant to another, produces hybrid seeds
and may be responsible for surplus food production, something the earth has not known until the present time.
Consumers, pushing shopping carts past well-stocked supermarket shelves, may experience difficulty visualizing
how the ancients garnered food. Certainly early inhabitants never dreamed of such a convenience as the supermarket
being a future possibility. Imagine cave-dwellers searching some primeval forest for food to eat. Successful foragers
would then return to their families to share their good fortune.
Occasionally a thought-provoking food-production question surfaces. How do seed-produced plants, using soil ingredients,
produce satisfying and tasty food? This is truly one of the miracles and mysteries of the universe.
Thought For The Day
If I could take
A plot of soil
And make plants from it
Like seeds can do,
I could make
Life give its secrets up;
Yet, I can’t.
Can you?
If you have questions or comments about this Web page or site, e-mail: mary@vanmeer.com
© 2002 Leo VanMeer
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