Re: nail clippers and germination

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I used to have a stereo microscope set up in my elementary school
classroom. One would be perfect for seed examination. I'll go over
to a science store to see if I can buy one.

Some drawings of various seeds, before and after cutting, would be
good to add to the SIGNA article that is being developed. Not
photographs. Drawings are much better for fine detail.

Diane

On 8-Jan-10, at 9:44 AM, Kenneth Walker wrote:

> At least with aril iris, the end of the embryo is near the point of
> attachment of the seed to the pod. Of course, with arils that is
> easy to find because that is where the aril is. I just cut a few
> seeds of Iris sintenisii and I also found the embryo near the point
> of attachment, but I don't know if it is universal.
>
> A magnifying glass is a good idea. I have a stereo microscope that
> is very helpful. At least for large seeds, I keep it at the lowest
> magification: 7.5x. After you cut off the tip of the embryo, the
> embryo should be visible as round circle in the endosperm, but
> sometimes there is not much difference in color between the embryo
> and endosperm.
>
> Ken