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Seeds

Other Uses Of Seeds

The seeds of some plants have other uses, including serving as resources for the manufacturing of industrial chemicals, such as grain alcohol (ethanol), derived from a fermentation of the seeds of corn, wheat, or some other plants. The seeds of some plants are used as attractive decorations, as is the case of the Job's tears (Coix lachryma-jobi), a grass that produces large, white, shiny seeds that are used to make attractive necklaces and other decorations, often dyed in various attractive colors.


Resources

Books

Judd, Walter S., Christopher Campbell, Elizabeth A. Kellogg, Michael J. Donoghue, and Peter Stevens. Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach. 2nd ed. with CD-ROM. Suderland, MD: Sinauer, 2002.

Klein, R.M. The Green World: An Introduction to Plants and People. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.


Periodicals

White, J.A., et al. "Expressed Sequence Tags From Developing Seeds. The Metabolic Pathway From Carbohydrates to Seed Oil." Plant Physiology 124 (December 2000): 1582-1594.


Bill Freedman

KEY TERMS

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Dioecious

—Plants in which male and female flowers occur on separate plants.

Dispersal

—Here, this referring to the spreading of propagules outward from their point of origin, as when seeds disperse away from their parent plant, using wind or an animal vector.

Germination

—The beginning of growth of a seed.

Monoecious

—Referring to cases in which individual plants are bisexual, having both staminate and pistillate floral parts.

Perfect flowers

—Referring to cases in which individual flowers are bisexual, having both staminate and pistillate organs.

Pollination

—The transfer of pollen from its point of origin (that is, the anther of the stamen) to the receptive surface of the pistil (i.e., the stigma) of the same species.

Scarification

—The mechanical or chemical abrasion of a hard seedcoat in order to stimulate or allow germination to occur.

Seed bank

—The population of viable seeds that occurs in the surface organic layer and soil of an ecosystem, especially in forests.

Succession

—A process of ecological change, involving the progressive replacement of earlier communities with others over time, and generally beginning with the disturbance of a previous type of ecosystem.

Additional topics

Science EncyclopediaScience & Philosophy: Jean-Paul Sartre Biography to Seminiferous tubulesSeeds - Biology Of Seeds, Dissemination Of Seeds, Seeds As Food, Other Uses Of Seeds - Uses of seeds