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.
Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or similar structure. The most common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm. In addition, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of hyphae from fungal spores, is also germination. Thus, in a general sense, germination can be thought of as anything expanding into greater being from a small existence or germ.
Trillium grandiflorum is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. A monocotyledonous, herbaceous perennial, it is native to eastern North America, from northern Quebec to the southern parts of the United States through the Appalachian Mountains into northernmost Georgia and west to Minnesota. It also thrives on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. There are also several isolated populations, such as in Nova Scotia and Iowa.
Sedum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species updated to 470. They are leaf succulents found primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, but extending into the southern hemisphere in Africa and South America. The plants vary from annual and creeping herbs to shrubs. The plants have water-storing leaves. The flowers usually have five petals, seldom four or six. There are typically twice as many stamens as petals.
Campanula americana, the American bellflower, is a tall bellflower native to eastern North America from the Great Lakes region south to Florida and from the Dakotas east to New York. This native plant is an annual or biennial from 2-6' tall. Its flowers are light blue to violet and are usually arranged in elongated clusters. It is an unusual bellflower in that its flowers are usually flat and not bell-shaped. It has a varying life-history with seeds germinating in the fall producing annual plants and spring-germinating seeds producing biennial plants. It is generally insect-pollinated, and does not usually self-pollinate.
A dormant seed is one that is unable to germinate in a specified period of time under a combination of environmental factors that are normally suitable for the germination of the non-dormant seed. Dormancy is a mechanism to prevent germination during unsuitable ecological conditions, when the probability of seedling survival is low.
Cypripedium acaule is a member of the orchid genus Cypripedium. Members of this genus are commonly referred to as lady's slipper orchids. First described in 1789 by Scottish botanist William Aiton, C. acaule is commonly referred to as the pink lady's slipper, stemless lady's-slipper, or moccasin flower. The pink lady's slipper is the provincial flower of Prince Edward Island, Canada and the state wildflower of New Hampshire, United States.
A calcareous glade is an ecological community that is found in the central eastern United States. Calcareous glades occur where bedrock such as limestone occurs near or at the surface, and have very shallow and little soil development. Because of the shallow soil and the extreme conditions created by it, trees are often unable to grow in the glades. This creates a habitat that is usually sunny, dry, and hot. Calcareous glade vegetation is more similar to that of a desert habitat than a grassland, being dominated by small spring annuals with occasional geophytic or succulent perennials.
Sedum acre, commonly known as the goldmoss stonecrop, mossy stonecrop, goldmoss sedum, biting stonecrop and wallpepper, is a perennial flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae. It is native to Europe, but also naturalised in North America, Japan and New Zealand.
Dichelostemma capitatum, called blue dicks,purplehead and brodiaea occur in Arizona, California, Oregon, Utah, New Mexico, and northwest Mexico.
Sedum telephium, often called Hylotelephium telephium, orpine, livelong, frog's-stomach, harping Johnny, life-everlasting, live-forever, midsummer-men, Orphan John, witch's moneybags is a succulent perennial groundcover of the family Crassulaceae native to Eurasia. The flowers are held in dense heads and can be reddish or yellowish-white. A number of cultivars, often with purplish leaves, are grown in gardens as well as hybrids between this species and the related Hylotelephium spectabile (iceplant), especially the popular 'Herbstfreude'. Occasionally garden plants may escape and naturalise as has happened in parts of North America as wildflowers.
Draba verna the spring draba, shadflower, nailwort, common whitlowgrass, vernal whitlow grass, early witlow grass or whitlow-grass is a species of plant in the mustard family, Brassicaceae. D. verna has the unique trait of bifid petals, not found anywhere else in the genus Draba. The plant consists of a few flowers with branching stems and the leaves are focused around the base of the plant. The seeds are located in the flower but are not equipped with any sort of wind dispersal adaptation. The genus Draba includes approximately 350 species distributed primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, with about 80 species in South and Central America.
Veronica arvensis, field speedwell is an annual flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. The species is a native European plant and a common weed in gardens, pastures, waste places and cultivated land.
Orobanche uniflora, commonly known as one-flowered broomrape, one-flowered cancer root, ghost pipe or naked broomrape, is an annual parasitic herbaceous plant. The "broom" might refer to the plant's shape while "rape" might refer to the lumps that are on its roots. It is native to much of North America, where it is a parasitic plant, tapping nutrients from many other species of plants, including those in the families Asteraceae and Saxifragaceae and in the genus Sedum. The name "orobanche" can be translated to "vetch-strangler" and "uniflora" can be translated to "single-flower".
Mucilage is a thick, gluey substance produced by nearly all plants and some microorganisms. These microorganisms include protists which use it for their locomotion. The direction of their movement is always opposite to that of the secretion of mucilage. It is a polar glycoprotein and an exopolysaccharide. Mucilage in plants plays a role in the storage of water and food, seed germination, and thickening membranes. Cacti and flax seeds especially are rich sources of mucilage.
Charming Dendrobium, Dendrobium pulchellum, is an orchid is native to Southeast Asia. This stunning plant blooms from the completion of winter into early spring. This is due to Dendrobium requiring cooler temperatures for growth and development.
Sagittaria lancifolia, the bulltongue arrowhead, is a perennial, monocot plant in the family Alismataceae, genus Sagittaria, with herbaceous growth patterns. It is native to the southeastern United States. It is known from every coastal state from Delaware to Texas. The species is also considered native to Mexico, Central America, the West Indies and northern South America. It has become naturalized on the Island of Java in Indonesia.
Sedum spathulifolium is a species of flowering plant in the stonecrop family known by the common names broadleaf stonecrop and Colorado stonecrop. An evergreen perennial, it is native to western North America from British Columbia to southern California, where it can be found in many types of rocky habitat in coastal and inland hills and mountains.
Frasera caroliniensis, commonly known as American columbo or yellow gentian, is a herbaceous perennial of the gentian family Gentianaceae found in the deciduous forest of Southern Ontario and throughout the eastern and southeastern United States. It was previously known as Swertia caroliniensis.
Paysonia stonensis is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family, known by the common name Stones River bladderpod. It is endemic to Tennessee in the United States, where it is limited to Rutherford County. It grows only in the floodplains of the Stones River, and certain tributaries.
