Editing Seed (section)

{{short description|Embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering}}
{{Other uses}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}

[[File:Разнообразие семян.jpg|thumb|350px| [[Micrograph|Photomicrograph]] of various seeds]]

In [[botany]], a '''seed''' is a plant structure containing an [[embryo]] and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be [[Sowing|sown]], which may include seed and [[husk]] or [[tuber]]. Seeds are the product of the ripened [[ovule]], after the [[embryo sac]] is [[fertilization|fertilized]] by [[Pollen|sperm]] from [[pollen]], forming a [[zygote]]. The embryo within a seed develops from the zygote and grows within the mother plant to a certain size before growth is halted.

The formation of the seed is the defining part of the process of [[reproduction]] in seed plants ([[spermatophytes]]). Other plants such as [[fern]]s, [[moss]]es and [[marchantiophyta|liverworts]], do not have seeds and use water-dependent means to propagate themselves. Seed plants now dominate biological [[Ecological niche|niches]] on land, from [[forest]]s to [[grassland]]s both in hot and cold [[climates]].

In the [[flowering plant]]s, the ovary ripens into a [[fruit]] which contains the seed and serves to disseminate it. Many structures commonly referred to as "seeds" are actually dry fruits. Sunflower seeds are sometimes sold commercially while still enclosed within the hard wall of the fruit, which must be split open to reach the seed. Different groups of plants have other modifications, the so-called [[stone fruits]] (such as the [[peach]]) have a hardened fruit layer (the [[endocarp]]) fused to and surrounding the actual seed. [[Nut (fruit)|Nuts]] are the one-seeded, hard-shelled fruit of some plants with an [[indehiscent]] seed, such as an [[acorn]] or [[hazelnut]].