The Amazing Seed
Every big plant starts as a tiny seed! Seeds come in all shapes and sizes. Sunflower seeds are striped and pointy. Bean seeds are smooth and oval. Watermelon seeds are flat and black. But no matter what they look like, every seed has the same basic parts inside.
Inside a seed is a tiny baby plant called an embryo. This embryo has a miniature root, a miniature stem, and a miniature leaf all ready to go! Around the embryo is a supply of stored food that will give the baby plant energy to start growing.
Wrapping everything up is a tough outer coat called the seed coat. This coat protects the embryo from damage, cold, and dryness. Some seeds can wait in the ground for years until conditions are just right to grow!
When a seed gets warm enough, has enough water, and has air around it, it wakes up and starts to grow. This process is called germination — it means the seed is coming to life!
**Wow Factor:** Some lotus seeds found in China were over 1,000 years old — and they STILL germinated when scientists gave them water!