Question: Where do seeds come from

Dionne Turnbull answered on 7 Nov 2018:

Good question! Seeds are like baby plants, waiting for the right conditions to grow. And they are good at waiting… Some seeds can last for hundreds of years! Scientists recently managed to grow a date palm plant from a seed that was 2000 years old!

Seeds are made by the plant when it is pollinated. So an insect, bird, bat, or the wind might bring along pollen from another of the same plant, and fertilise the flower. The flower will then often die, and a fruit will form in its place – filled with seed ready to grow new plants. A fruit is actually a clever trick to get the seeds planted far away – an animal eats the tasty fruit, keeps on walking, and poops out the seed later! Bingo… baby plants all over the place!