Plants come in all shapes and sizes, but all follow a similar lifecycle. In this article, we’ll cover its basics starting with seeds.
An ideal environment for seed germination includes oxygen, water, sunlight and the proper temperature. Once these factors come together, germination occurs.
Seed
Seeds are packages containing embryos (baby plants) and food reserves to enable new life to start its journey through. Seeds are formed from sporophyte tissues – one or more layers covering the outermost parts of parent plants known as intguments – which become transformed into the hard or tough outer seed coat coating in seeds. When left dormant for years until being activated by conditions surrounding them such as rain, fire, ground temperature fluctuations or digested by an animal that has consumed fruit from that seedling seedling will start its journey toward growth.
Seed of Life
A seed’s embryo requires an environment in which to thrive and reproduce; that is why many seed plants produce fruits so their seeds can be dispersed to places with suitable germination conditions. This is also why seeds plants produce fruits as their seeds are protected within them and dispersed via them to other areas where conditions allow.
How Can Seeds Travel Far and Wide? Seed dispersal occurs through various mechanisms. Some seeds can be moved by wind currents; others fall to the ground or blow off plants; still more can explode from exploding pods when mature releasing their seeds into the atmosphere!
After seeds reach the earth, their growth begins. This process is known as germination. At this stage, their embryo breaks through their hard outer shell to absorb moisture and nutrients from the earth while parts of them rise upward toward sunlight to become roots and stems for the new plant – eventually producing its first leaves, known as cotyledons, that convert solar energy to food for itself.
As the seed germinates and matures, its stored nutrients become gradually exhausted. At that point, the plant needs to create its own food and begin growing more quickly – its roots moving swiftly through the soil, taking in water and nutrients, while its stem and leaves spreading taller and wider each day. At this stage, a seed begins producing its own food by harnessing solar energy to convert sunlight into sugars that provide its energy needs for growth and development into a full-grown plant. The plant lifecycle entails the maturation and reproduction of seeds into mature plants that can reproduce. At this stage, the matured plants produce their own seeds to reproduce and the cycle repeats itself – this is why people collect and store seeds: to start more plants or even food production! Most crops we enjoy today were started from seeds; there are various kinds of seeds such as grains like wheat and rice; vegetables; flowers and trees among many more types.