What is the longest-lived plant in the world?

The seeds of ancient lotus seeds are still alive after maturity, and the life span of various seeds varies greatly. People think that the oldest lotus seed in the world is the ancient lotus seed in China. Is that ancient lotus seed really the oldest seed? Discovery of Ancient Lotus Seeds 1952, scientists in China discovered some ancient lotus seeds under the peat in Paozitun Village, Xinjin County, Liaoning Province. The skins of these lotus seeds have become very hard, like small iron eggs. If scientists get the treasure, they will carefully wrap these "baby eggs" and take them back to Beijing for careful study. They used a file to gently smooth the hard shell outside the ancient lotus seeds and then soaked them in water. Soon after, these ancient lotus seeds actually sprouted, and the germination rate reached more than 90%. In the Beijing Botanical Garden at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain, the ancient lotus seeds planted in 1953, after careful care, produced reddish lotus flowers in the summer of 1955. 1975, scientists used radioactive rocks to determine the life span of these ancient lotus seeds as long as 835 ~ 1095. 1973, archaeologists in China discovered two long-lived ancient lotus seeds at Yangshao Cultural Site in Dahe Village, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, about 5000 years ago, which can be regarded as the longest-lived seeds in the world.

Who is the oldest seed?

There has also been a debate in the international scientific community about the life of seeds. The focus of the debate is the wheat seeds found in the pyramids of Egypt. It has been said that wheat seeds that have been dormant for 2000 years have been found in the pyramids, and they still germinate and grow after sowing. Some scientists think this is the longest-lived seed in the world, while others disagree. After careful investigation and study, it was found that this was a scam of a profiteer. Now, the international scientific community unanimously recognizes that the ancient lotus seed discovered in China is the oldest seed.

Comparison of seed longevity

The lifespan of plant seeds is different. Generally speaking, seeds that can maintain vitality for more than 15 years are considered as long-lived seeds. Except for ancient lotus seeds, none of the longest-lived seeds in the world is over 200 years old.

Don't think that the seeds are "dead" when they stay there. In fact, seeds have independent living ability after leaving the mother. In the seed, there is a warehouse full of nutrients. Seeds can resist cold and heat, and the cells inside have been stubbornly living and breathing. Another reason that affects the longevity of seeds is the environmental conditions before and after maturity and during storage. For example, under dry, low-temperature and sealed storage conditions, the activity of embryos in seeds is particularly low, and their metabolism is almost stagnant, leading a dormant life. In this way, the seeds of many plants can maintain their potential life for a long time under ideal storage conditions.

The conditions of lotus seeds are better. It is a small solid fruit with a tough hard shell outside the seed. There is a special kind of reticular cell in the pericarp tissue, the cell wall is composed of cellulose, and the pericarp is completely impermeable to water, so the water content when excavated is only 12%, which is the secret of its longevity.

In nature, everything is relative, and ancient lotus seeds are not the longest-lived seeds. Scientists in China discovered nearly 400 seeds of Setaria viridis in the loess layer of Dafangshen Township, Xiuyan County, Liaoning Province. According to isotope determination, these seeds have been buried for more than ten thousand years. Setaria viridis appeared in the Cretaceous period of the earth, and it is a "neighbor" of dinosaurs, and it still thrives in nature. What is even more surprising is that those ancient seeds of Setaria viridis have sprouted, blossomed and produced seeds. This discovery provides new data for the study of ancient plants, paleogeography and paleoclimate environment.

Compared with these long-lived seeds, the longevity of some plant seeds is pitifully short. Most tropical and subtropical plants, such as cocoa seeds, lose their ability to germinate after 35 hours. The seeds of sugarcane, cinchona and some wild grains can only survive for a few days or weeks at most; The seed vigor of oak, walnut, chestnut, poplar and other temperate plants cannot be maintained for a long time.

Why do these plant seeds have such a short life span? Scientists have been interested in this problem for a long time, but it is an extremely complicated problem. Until now, scholars have not reached a consensus.

Some scientists believe that some plant seeds are easy to die because of dehydration and drying. After experiments, if some willow seeds are exposed to the air, they will lose their vitality completely within a week; But they can live for at least 360 years in a dry atmosphere with a relative humidity of 13%. So some scientists disagree with this statement.

Some scholars believe that the life span of plant seeds growing in tropical or subtropical areas is so short because of abundant rain and hot weather in tropical areas, which makes the seeds metabolize vigorously and the little nutrients stored in the seeds are quickly consumed. Because there are not enough nutrients, the life activities of seeds cannot be maintained, thus losing vitality.

Other scientists believe that some short-lived seeds contain a lot of fat, such as cocoa, walnuts and camellia oleifera. Because of metabolism, a toxic substance may be produced in the process of fat transformation, which will kill the embryo in the seed or make the seed deteriorate. Like peanuts and walnuts, it has a spicy taste for a long time, which is why. Others believe that the short life span of some plant seeds is due to the fact that the protein molecules in the embryo cells of the seeds have lost their mobility, thus being completely solidified and unable to be transformed. Others think that because of this

Aged lotus seeds