Seed reference record
Sporobolus virginicus
Poaceae · Indigenous
Close-up
One seed, filling the frame, focus-stacked. This is where surface texture, hilum position and sculpturing are legible — the characters that separate close relatives.
Pair
Two seeds, usually showing different faces. Many seeds are flattened on one side where they pressed against a neighbour, and a single view hides that.
Cluster
Several seeds together at lower magnification. Shows the range of size and colour within one collection, which a single specimen never does.
Images © Lyon Arboretum Rare Plant Program Seeds Lab, served from SeedsOfHawaii.org
Measured
- 1.7–1.9 mm
- length
- 0.4–0.6 mm
- width
- 0.02–0.08 mg
- mass
- Sporobolus
- genus
Storage behaviour
orthodox
Desiccation-tolerant. Can be dried below 12% moisture and stored at freezing temperatures.
Whether a seed can be dried and frozen decides whether it can be banked at all — which is the first question a seed laboratory asks and one no identification tool usually answers.
Dormancy
- GA3
- KNO3
Seeds of a similar size
An unknown seed of this size could be any of these. That is the practical value of a measured reference set: it says what a specimen might be confused with, and by how little.
