The flowering plant’s unit of reproduction, capable of developing into another plant. In order to reproduce, the flower of a female plant must be pollinated by a male plant so the female plant produces seeds. Once the seeds are mature, the female plant begins to die and seeds are either dropped to the ground to germinate or they are harvested for processing into hemp seed oil, food products, or the next generation of plants. Seeds carry genetic information from two parent plants that can be expressed in many different combinations. Typically cannabis producers will plant many seeds and choose the best plant for cloning and cultivation.
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm plants.
Seeds are the product of the ripened ovule, after the embryo sac is fertilized by sperm from pollen, forming a zygote. The embryo within a seed develops from the zygote, and grows within the mother plant to a certain size before growth is halted. The seed coat arises from the integuments of the ovule.
Seeds have been an important development in the reproduction and success of vegetable gymnosperm and angiosperm plants, relative to more primitive plants such as ferns, mosses and liverworts, which do not have seeds and use water-dependent means to propagate themselves. Seed plants now dominate biological niches on land, from forests to grasslands both in hot and cold climates.
The term "seed" also has a general meaning that antedates the above – anything that can be sown, e.g. "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 husk, whereas the potato is a tuber.
In the flowering plants, the ovary ripens to a fruit which contains the seed and serves to disseminate it. Many structures commonly referred to as "seeds" are actually dry fruits. Sunflower seeds are sometimes sold commercially while still enclosed within the hard wall of the fruit, which must be split open to reach the seed. Different groups of plants have other modifications, the so-called stone fruits (such as the peach) have a hardened fruit layer (the endocarp) fused to and surrounding the actual seed. Nuts are the one-seeded, hard-shelled fruit of some plants with an indehiscent seed, such as an acorn or hazelnut.
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, US) enPR: sēd, IPA(key): /siːd/
- Rhymes: -iːd
- Homophones: cede, sede
Etymology 1
From Middle English
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