Botanical Nerd Word: Quiescent
Quiescent: In a state or condition of quietness; motionless; inactive; dormant.* Seeds in storage are said to be quiescent. They are purposely kept dry and cool…
Tag Archives: seeds
What’s New in the Garden Shop
The Garden Shop will be “popping up” at Canada Blooms from March 9 through 19, 2018. Our regular retail outlet at the gardens will be…
Botanical Nerd Word: Ballistic dispersal
Ballistic dispersal: (syn. ballochory) Mode of dispersal by which the diaspores are actively or passively catapulted away from the plant. This can either happen arbitrarily or…
Botanical Nerd Word: Funiculus
Funiculus: The stalk by which an ovule or seed is connected to the placenta in the ovary. The funiculus acts like an umbilical cord, supplying…
Botanical Nerd Word: Anthropochory
Anthropochory: (from Greek: anthropos = human being + chorein = to disperse, to wander): dispersal of fruits and seeds by man.* Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) was introduced…
Botanical Nerd Word: Cryptobiosis
Cryptobiosis: A condition in which an organism (or an egg, seed, etc.) is in a dormant and resistant state without visible signs of life, remaining so…
Botanical Nerd Word: Diaspore
Diaspore: the smallest unit of seed dispersal in plants. Diaspores can be seeds, fruitlets of compound or schizocarpic fruits, entire fruits or seedlings (e.g. in mangroves).*…
Botanical Nerd Word: Vagile
Vagile: (From Latin vagus wandering, straying). Of an organism or group of organisms: having the ability to disperse or be dispersed in an environment.* The…
TBG Seed Library
TBG has partnered with the Toronto Seed Library (TSL) to establish its very own seed library. This seed collection is located in TBG’s Weston Family Library. What…
Word of the Week: Elaiosome
Elaiosome (e-lay-o-zome): (Greek: elaion=oil + soma=body) literally meaning ‘oil body.’* A structure on the surface of a seed that secretes and stores oil, usually as…