Why do plants have seeds that are different shapes and sizes?

Why seeds are of different sizes and shapes has always been a relevant question in plant biology. The simplest answer to it is mother nature selects these traits for a species depending on their need during evolution and adaptation in newer areas.

Why do seeds have different shapes?

They need to stay near the soil surface so the smaller embryo can pierce through the soil. Larger seeds can stay in greater depth in soil. The depth at which a seed is planted depends on the shape of the seed as well.

Why do plants come in different sizes?

Previously, the textbook theory explained leaf size variability in terms of available water and the risk of overheating. In those places with high rainfall, such as in the tropics, leaves grow larger while small-leaved plants flourish in arid and high altitude environments.

Why do plants have different seeds?

As the ovary turns into fruit, different ovary parts become different fruit parts; when fertilized, small structures called ovules become the fruit’s seeds—and more fertilized ovules means more seeds!

Why do fruits have different shapes?

Fruits and veggies that grow in unusual shapes are often a result of environmental conditions. Due to inadequate pollination, sections of the fruit or vegetable where the seed did not develop can cease to grow, impacting the shape of the food.

Why are seeds different from each other?

As different as they may be from each other, all seeds are alike in three ways: in every seed there is an embryo (EM-bri-o) or baby plant; each seed contains some kind of food for the young plant; and every seed has a protective covering around the young plant and its food.

Why are seeds such different sizes?

Seed size is often related to relative growth speed; smaller seeds develop more quickly than larger ones. But not always: a 2012 study in the journal Ecology concluded that small-seeded species only sometimes possess additional adaptations for rapid growth over and above their general size advantage.

Why are leaves different shapes and sizes?

Why do tree leaves have different shapes? The shape of a tree’s leaves are a response to the tree species’ long term ecological and evolutionary histories. A leaf must take in carbon dioxide from the surrounding air via pores (called “stomatae”). This carbon dioxide is also needed for photosynthesis.

Why are some plant leaves bigger than others?

Past researchers suggested that water availability and risk of overheating determines leaf size. This model helped explain why the leaves of desert plants were tiny (they can’t afford to “sweat” out their precious water) and the leaves of plants in cool, shady spots often grow large.

Why do vegetables have different shapes?

Why are there so many sizes and shapes of tomatoes?

In addition to size, tomatoes have been bred for shape, texture, flavor, shelf-life, and nutrient composition, but it has been difficult to study these traits in tomatoes, because many of them are the result of many genes acting together. Domesticated tomatoes can be up to 1000 times larger than their wild relatives.

Why do different plants have different number of seeds in their fruits?

Number of seeds in a fruit depends on the number of ovules in an ovary before fertilisation. The fruits which have more seeds in them have more number ovules in the ovary of flowers such as watermelon and those with single seed have only single ovule in the ovary of flowers like mango.

What determines the size of a seed?

The size of a seed results from the nature of the plant that will grow from the seed, the structures to be included in the seed, and the plant’s adaptation to environment (such as distribution method.) Cultivation can also affect seeds, fostering adaptation in the absence of competing or antagonistic plant or pest species.

What is the difference between a seedless fruit and a vegetable?

Normally, a “seedless” fruit is a fruit that has been modified so that the seeds are soft and can be bitten through easily (e.g. a seedless watermelon), or they have the seeds fail to develop (I can’t think of a good example). But such vegetables have seeds. Vegetables that are not fruits (e.g. broccoli, asparagus) don’t have seeds.

What is the difference between seeds and fruits?

Fruit can be thought of as a swollen flower. Apples, oranges, and even tomatoes, cucumbers and beans, are types of fruit because they have seeds inside them. Fruit is meant to be eaten so that its seeds are dispersed by the animal that eats it. Seeds can also be left behind, but with material that will help them grow into new plants.

Why do most vegetables have seeds in them?

Most vegetables (e.g. bean pods, squashes, tomatoes) are the non-sweet fruits of flowering plants, which means that they have seeds in them because they evolved as seed-bearing structures.