The Triumph of Seeds (38 page)

emulsifier
  A substance (e.g., lecithin) added to stabilize the suspension of one liquid within another. In food products, emulsions are usually oils or fats suspended in water (e.g., mayonnaise), but can also be water in a fat (e.g., butter). Emulsifiers can also help suspend particles in a liquid, as with sugar and chocolate solids in cocoa butter.

endocarp
  The innermost layer of a fruit, often hardened to protect the seed.

endorphin
  One of a group of hormones secreted by the central nervous system. Endorphins are generally believed to be involved in regulating pain and pleasure responses.

endosperm
  An important tissue for the storage of nutrition in seeds.

In angiosperms, it is technically a triploid product of pollination. In gymnosperms, this role is played by the megagametophyte.

endozoochory
  Literally, “going abroad within animals.” The term refers to the seed dispersal strategy of being consumed, transported, and deposited by an animal.

enzyme
  Compounds, usually proteins, produced to catalyze a chemical reaction within an organism.

epicotyl
  Literally, “above the leaf.” It refers to the stem-like portion of a baby plant that is above the seed leaves and below the shoot, or
plumule
.

gametophyte
  Literally, “gamete-producing plant.” It refers to an independent generation in the spore-plant life cycle that produces eggs and sperm. In ferns, for example, it is a tiny, separate plant that grows from a spore and lives briefly in damp soil.

gene
  A specific location along a chromosome, where the shape and pattern of the DNA determine a specific trait.

genetically modified organism (GMO)
  A plant, animal, or microbe whose genetic code has been artificially altered, typically by the deletion or manipulation of genes, or by inserting genes from another organism.

germination
  The awakening of a seed. Technically, this process begins with water uptake (see
imbibation
) and ends when the radicle emerges from the seed coat. More generally, it includes the full emergence and establishment of the baby plant’s root and shoot.

grain
  Cereals (e.g., wheat, rice) and other similar crops (e.g., quinoa, buckwheat).

gymnosperm
  Literally, “naked seed.” The gymnosperms are a major group of seed plants defined by the lack of a carpel or enclosure around the seed.

hormone
  Any of a range of compounds that regulate growth, development, and other processes within a plant or animal.

hybrid
  A cross between two species, or between two distinct varieties of the same species.

hypocotyl
  Literally, “below the leaf.” The term refers to the stem-like portion of a baby plant that is beneath the seed leaves and above the root, or
radicle
.

imbibation
  The rapid uptake of water by a seed that signals the beginning of germination.

in situ
  Latin for “in place.” This phrase is commonly used in conservation and the natural sciences to describe activities within the natural habitat of a species. (
Ex situ
, in contrast, describes the study or conservation of a species in a zoo or nursery setting).

kernel
  A term for seed usually applied to cereals or to the soft, edible portion of tree nuts.

lecithin
  A fatty substance extracted from the storage oils in certain seeds, including soybeans, rape seeds, cottonseeds, and sunflower
seeds. It is used as an emulsifier in food products and also as a cholesterol-reducing dietary supplement.

megagametophyte
  Literally, the “large-gamete-producing plant.” The term refers to egg-producing tissues that are a stand-alone plant in old lineages like the spike moss, but are incorporated into the flowering parts of seed plants. The megagametophyte produces the egg, and then its tissues are often included as part of the seed. Conifers and other gymnosperms, for example, pack the energy (or “lunch”) for their seeds in the megagametophyte.

meiosis
  Cell division that produces eggs and sperm or pollen. Instead of typical division (
mitosis
), where all chromosomes are duplicated, meisosis results in cells containing only half the normal chromosome allotment.

meristem
  The parts of a plant where cell division takes place, typically found at the tips of roots and shoots, and also around the perimeters of the stems and trunks of woody species.

metabolism
  The sum of all chemical reactions and processes occurring within an organism, generally considered the basis of life.

monocot
  A major group of flowering plants, defined by having one cotyledon (
mono-cot
) in the seed.

paleobotany
  The study of ancient plants.

Pennsylvanian
  A sub-period of the Carboniferous Period, also referred to as the Upper Carboniferous, which lasted from 323 million to 290 million years ago.

perisperm
  A starchy storage tissue found in seeds alongside (or, rarely, in place of) the endosperm.

Permian
  The sixth and final period of the Paleozoic Era, following the Carboniferous and lasting from 290 million to 245 million years ago.

photosynthesis
  The use of sunlight to transform water and carbon dioxide into life-sustaining carbohydrates, producing oxygen as a by-product.

pip
  A term for seeds generally applied to small, hard seeds found within soft fruits.

plumule
  The shoot of a plant embryo.

pulse
  A term for the edible seeds of various leguminous crops, including beans, lentils, and chickpeas.

radiation
  A rapid divergence and diversification of new species from an ancestral form.

radicle
  The root of a plant embryo.

recalcitrant
  A seed that does not desiccate and lacks a truly quiescent or dormant stage.

ribosome
  An organelle within cells that regulates the translation and expression of genetic information to produce proteins.

seed coat
  The outermost layer of the true seed, often serving protective, waterproofing, or dispersal functions, and sometimes intermingled with surrounding fruit tissues.

spore
  A tiny reproductive unit used by ferns, mosses, spike mosses, and other ancient plant groups. The seed habit evolved from the spore plants.

stamen
  The “male” part of the flower, bearing pollen-producing anthers.

stigma
  The area of the pistil, or “female” part of a flower, that receives the pollen.

tetraploid
  The condition of having four sets of chromosomes, two from each parent.

Theophrastus
  A student of and successor to Aristotle at the Lyceum. He is particularly well-known for his plant studies, and is often called “the father of botany.”

triploid
  The condition of having three sets of chromosomes, derived from hybridization between diploid and tetraploid parents.

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