Key learning points

1. Seeds contain an embryo, food store and a tough outer coat, and they are formed in the ovary.
2. A fruit is the mature and ripened ovary of a seed-producing plant.
3. Fruits often contain seeds which will grow into a new plant, given the right conditions.
4. Seeds are adapted to be dispersed by animals, wind and water.

Keywords

• Seed - The development stage in the growth of a plant's offspring.

• Fruit - The ripened ovary of seed-producing plants; it can be fleshy or dry.

• Embryo - A development stage in the growth of a new offspring, in a plant it is formed inside a seed.

• Ovary - An organ in the female reproductive system. In a plant, fertilisation and seed formation take place here.

• Fertilisation - The fusion of gametes to form a zygote; the gametes of a plant are pollen and ova.

Common misconception