What is Seed: Definition and 31 Discussions

A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering. The formation of the seed is 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 fertilization by pollen and some growth within the mother plant. The embryo develops from the zygote, and the seed coat from the integuments of the ovule.
Seeds have been an important development in the reproduction and success of 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 angiosperms (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.

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  1. D

    Is a Self-Building 'Seed' Ship the Future of Space Travel?

    Just wanted to share what I thought was a cool science fiction idea: it's a "seed" spaceship that transports to a distant star system and then builds into a larger structure (spaceport or something) by producing electrons and protons from the energy of the star in that system, and then arranging...
  2. J

    Can the Genesis Project really seed the galaxy with robots?

    https://futurism.com/genesis-project-robots-seed-galaxy-life
  3. person123

    Random Seed Choice for LAMMPS Molecular Dynamics Simulations

    I want to create multiple molecular dynamics simulations using LAMMPS which are different only in the initial velocity of the atoms. LAMMPS allows you to use a random seed to generate an initial velocity. I plan to just use successive numbers, so if there are 5 simulations, the seeds would be...
  4. C

    Why Ground Flax Seed Takes Up More Space: The Science Behind It

    Why does ground flax seed consume about 30% more volume than whole flax? It would seem to me the finer particle size would result in the ground requiring less volume, as the "sphere packing" inefficiencies would be less?
  5. Jmsteel

    Beam needed for 20 ft 3 pt hitch seed drill

    I am looking to build a 3 point hitch air seeder. My plan is to build it 20 feet long with the hitch in the middle. The openers will be a disc opener with a 450 lbs trip which I am planning to space them at 6 inches. As the openers are built to attach to a 4x4 box steel beam, I am wondering if...
  6. N

    Are 'spores' some kind of 'seeds'?

    < Mentor Note -- OP has edited the thread to add the HH Template -- Thank you! > 1. Homework Statement I think that the spores produced by the bread mould plant are actually its seeds but my textbook says that it isn't. Homework Equations No any equation to mention The Attempt at a Solution I...
  7. menniandscience

    Seeds Need Oxygen Before Growing - Why?

    hi anyone and everyone! why do seeds need oxygen before they grow, in the time they are waiting for the right conditions to grow thanks
  8. R

    Unlocking the Energy Potential of Trees: A Look at Biomimicry

    A tree seed takes water and minerals(?) from the ground, carbon and oxygen(?) from the air, and heat and light(?) from the sun. When a tree dies and dries up, it can be used as firewood, a source of energy. Is there a way to capture that energy without the seed-tree scenario? i.e., but can we...
  9. A

    Seed, Noise and undoing pseudorandomization

    Okay, title doesn't give a lot of information so please bear with me here. Forget the why, I just need to figure out how. I would like, given an array of floats(such as those that would be generated by perlin noise) to be able to extract what seed would be used to generate said set of numbers...
  10. A

    AI Seed Programming: Questions & Answers for Nick Bostrom's Superintelligence

    I read Nick Bostroms book "Superintelligence" but can't seem to find an answer to a question I have. I emailed Nick the following (though I'm sure he gets thousands of emails and will likely never respond): Firstly, thank you for the great read. :) My question is this: Why are you so certain...
  11. D

    When does plant stop using nutrients from seed leaves?

    Do plants stop making use of nutrients in seed leaves once it develop its first leaves and leave them to die? Thanks in advance.
  12. Greg Bernhardt

    News U.S. Supreme Court Hears Monsanto Seed Patent Case

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/us-supreme-court-monsanto_n_2719335.html [Broken] Bowman v. Monsanto Co. http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/bowman-v-monsanto-co/ High Plains Drifting: Wind-Blown Seeds and the Intellectual Property Implications of the GMO Revolution (written by...
  13. H

    Foundation Earth - seed package to reboot a technical society

    Hello, I'm planning on writing a short story, pretty short, maybe 5 - 10 pages with minimal dialogue and just a few characters. Really its a pilot project to outline the details and thoughts needed for a bigger project that may or may take place down the road. Generally, the idea is this...
  14. P

    Position and Displacement Vectors- The Watermelon Seed Vector

    A watermelon seed has the following coordinates: x = -6.6 m, y = 2.2 m, and z = 0 m. Find its position vector as (a) a magnitude and (b) an angle relative to the positive direction of the x axis. If the seed is moved to the xyz coordinates (8.2 m, 0 m, 0 m), what is its displacement as (c) a...
  15. marcus

    Cai Easson avoid eternal inflation , use Higgs to seed structure

    Cai Easson avoid "eternal inflation", use Higgs to seed structure Cai and Easson's paper takes off from the seminal paper of Shaposhnikov and Wetterich that is discussed here at BTSM https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=560031 Shapo-Wetter predicted 126 GeV Higgs in 2009 on the...
  16. S

    MHB Geometry: Integrating the Seed of Life with Circles

    Identify one (1) lesson on circles that could integrate the Seed of Life in the delivery of the lesson. I need help on this urgently
  17. B

    Why does a sycamore seed auto-rotate when falling?

    Homework Statement Explain ALL of the forces present acting on a falling sycamore seed (maple seed/Helicopter seed) and use this to explain why it auto-rotates in a stable state. Also explain what other factors may effect flight and autorotation, [i]Note:[i/]you can factor out many...
  18. B

    What is the magnitude of the resultant velocity of the seed?

    Here's the question: A bird drops a seed, which falls with a steady vertical terminal velocity of 4.8 m/s. A slight breeze blows the seed toward the west at 1.2 m/s. (a) What is the magnitude of the resultant velocity of the seed? (b) What is the direction (in degrees west of the...
  19. P

    Information Equivalent of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault

    I was wondering if there is currently a project by some government or NGO, in the same spirit as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, to digitize all information (history, math/science, literature, etc.) and store it either somewhere safe on the planet or better yet on some other celestial body in...
  20. Spinnor

    Maple Minimizing action of falling maple seed.

    In the following link is a slow motion video of a maple tree seed falling (you have to wait till the 7th second). From the Wiki article on Action http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_%28physics%29 "In physics, action is an attribute of the dynamics of a physical system. It is a mathematical...
  21. M

    Comparing Seed Germination Proportions: Z-Test

    Homework Statement --------------------IG------IB----- Non-Germinated ---405-----341 Germinated --------386-----180 Carry out the Z-test to compare the proportions of seeds germinating for the IG and IB columns and interpret the result. Homework Equations The Attempt at a...
  22. Evo

    The Myth of GM Seed Causing Farmer Suicides

    Or are people overreacting without understanding the science? http://news.yahoo.com/aussie-police-shut-greenpeace-hq-seize-evidence-081852648.html
  23. A

    Seed values for estimating square roots.

    This is taken from Wikipedia: Many of the methods for calculating square roots of a positive real number S require an initial seed value. If the initial value is too far from the actual square root, the calculation will be slowed down. It is therefore useful to have a rough estimate, which...
  24. E

    Grass Seed and Electric Field Demo

    I really wasn't sure where to put this thread...so I hope this is okay. Anyway, for our class project I am going to build a small box containing oil and grass seeds. After adding a charge, electric field lines will form. That is the basis of the presentation. My question comes in the...
  25. M

    Maple How can we use maple seeds for personal transport?

    Hello i just joined this forum because i had an idea that i think, if it hasnt already been thought of would be a unique mode of transport over short distances, its based on the maple seed, basically it would be a single seat mono blade helicopter, the actual blade would be above the...
  26. H

    Questions About Maple Seeds (Samara): Answers Inside

    I have some questions about Maple seeds: 1. Describe Maple seed spinning process. 2. Does the altitude influence the speed of seed when reaches floor? 3. Can we change the seed in a way that while it's spinning its speed also increase? 4. Some seeds are twins! They're connected together. Do they...
  27. P

    Calculating Pressure for Oil Seed Pressing with 80 kW PTO Shaft

    hi there, i need some advice please. I am a farmer that wants to press some oil seed rape. i have a tractor that produces 80 kw of power at its pto shaft (Power take off) and i want to use this rotational power to produce a reciprocating motion eg back and forth motion. The pto shaft has...
  28. P

    How can I seed srand() with time in microseconds in Visual Basic/C++?

    Hi Im using Visual basic c++ and was wonderig what the easiest way was to seed srand() with the time in microseconds is. Thanks
  29. C

    Projectile Motion Problem with spitting a seed

    Homework Statement The record for spitting a watermelon seed by a man is 68.75 feet. Assuming he spat at an angle of 45.0 degrees and from an initial height of 1.50 meters above the ground, how fast did he spit the seed out of his mouth. (neglect any air resistance) Homework Equations...
  30. N

    Solve My Mystery: The Winging Seed Problem

    Hello To All... I'm Having A Problem With An Observation... In This Observation,If I Release A Maple Seed,It Goes Down In A Rotational Movement. The Question Is Why? I Hope That Some One Could Help Me...:smile: Thanx...
  31. V

    Particles from space seed cloud formation and greenhouse

    I don't believe the cloud formation by particles from space idea because why would they be doing this now (we'd have to be unlucky given geological timescales) and why isn't there evidence of this in the past.
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