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3/31/18
Article Summary 1
Patterns of Seed Mass Variation and their Effects of Seedling Traits in Alliaria Petiolata (Brassicaceae)
Introduction
Per each plant species, the size of the seeds had been the best and most secure constituent of
what it can produce. If seed size can be the determinant of that, than it can be hypothesized that
controlled reproductions of the plant be conducted to gain seeds that are equivalent in size. Seed
size had a direct effect on seedling traits such as germination, emergence, survivorship, size, and
competitive ability. Per other studies, it should be noted that there has been a lot of different
sizes of seeds in the average sizes of yearly seed groups, populations of a species, and individual
seeds within the population. It is even observed that seeds from fruits from the aggregate
category (one flower that produces several seeds), and seeds within all variables of those fruits.
There have been many theories to explain why seeds can vary so much in size. An article done
by the American Naturalist, Smith and Fretwell proposed that there was balance between the
amount of seeds a plant produced, and the size of the seeds. Variations can help with many
factors including to cover ground and reduce the chances of failure in an environment and shape
and characteristics of the plants. All of these observations and it can be determined that the seed
size variation can help during early points in germination and points following germination to
establish a population but does not determine its survival or reproductive capability. The first
objective of the study was to find out the degree in which seed size varied in weedy biennial
Alliaria Petiolata across a range in North America. The second objective was to find out seed
size variations of the fruits from those plants. The third objective was to figure out if traits of
seedlings ability to reproduce and speed in which seeds spread, was due to the size of the initial
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seeds. Findings also included where the seed was and how large within a fruit and plant , and
About half way through March, the biennial herb garlic mustard starts it’s germination process in
Windsor Ontario. Newer plants start off as short rosettes, plants on year 2 grow in length to form
a raceme with white flowers. Depending on the location, flower’s remain open for different
amounts of time to pollinate. After they are fertilized, the flowers grow two sections of fruits
with 8 to 24 plant ovules, which come at a specific location making it allowable tor record
positioning of the plants seed. During the summer 14 populations were sampled. Lenth and
number or stems, infructescences, and mature fruits were observed and documented per every
100 samples. 10 fruits of a random sample were taken and studied as a control group and
prepared for analysis under a light microscope. They studied length, position, and weight of
seeds. There was an average of 16 seeds per each fruit. A formula was used too standardized all
of the seed sizes. In experiment 1, 100 plants were chosen per each population. Of those 100, 40
seeds were chosen and germination was accelerated and briefly given light every 3 days when
checked for germination, or the spouting of the radicle (like a root). They received germination
frequencies. Seed experiment 2 a sample of seeds was taken, weighed and divided into group
depending on their location in comparison to the plant. There was a total of 9 different groups
found using this method. Seeds were then prepared in a controlled manner and carefully
monitored for changes. They were harvested after a month of germination and dried to get a
record of their biomass. Many samples were tested in many ways to see if any of the seedling
Results
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Plant located in southern positions grew bigger and more amounts of fruit than the plants grown
at the opposite regions. Stem length average wasn’t very different when looking at certain
regions until observing Ontario smaller average. Some of the results are asz shown
“The mean values for number of stems (range 1–6), infructescences (range 1–
23), mature fruits (range 1–321), and seeds (range 7–3672) on an individual
There were differences seed sizes amoung all of these groups. It was also determined
that depending on the location of the seed, germination occurred at different rates giving
different rates of germination. From the results observed, seed position and the size of
seeds were giving a specific pattern during the study. Each fruit’s seed mass went on as
Discussion
Kentucky had the largest seed mass overall and Ontario had the smallest seed mass overall.
Branching in plants is due to the temperate the plant its kept at. Other variables to the result of
the plant can be due to the soils pH, species, water drainage, and soil type. These things can
inhibit or help the plants grow and spread. Things vary among several locations making some
seeds succeed in different places. The position on the seed can influence it growth due to being
more prone to receive the hormones necessary to grow. Those in certain positions are shown to
weight more have more mass in general. If the experiment was done to plants in a controlled
greenhouse, more flowers grew on plants that had larger seeds than did ones with smaller seed
size but it did not have a difference in the actual size of the plant. Seeds within a plant have a sort
of competitiveness to them in that they have limited resources and only a chance at maturing.
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When determining seed size and the percentage at which they germinate, it is dependent on the
species of seeds that you are using. Due to the study, the use of smaller seeds is beneficial as
smaller seeds more rapidly germinate. They mature more quickly and they are more able to
overtop and shade seedlings. Although they have smaller seed mass, they tend to grow with a
height for unknown reasoning. The size of the seed may have little to nothing to do with the size