Seeds of the Future
Seeds of the Future
By Bryn Nelson
November 7, 2007
Science News for Kids
On an unusual old farm in New York City, workers are stashing away the seeds of the future.
In this unlikely place, researchers are putting the seeds from flowering plants and trees in a sleeplike state called suspended animation. Many years from now, other workers will rouse the slumbering plant embryos and plant them where they're most needed.
These seeds are like the legendary Rip van Winkle, who fell asleep under a tree and woke up 20 years later. The small farm, called the Greenbelt Native Plant Center, is part of a global effort to save threatened plants and trees.
Around the world, native plants are being crowded out by invasive newcomers, which can hitch rides on boats, planes, and trains. Unaware of the consequences, people sometimes even plant invasive species because they seem useful or pretty at first.
Adding insult to injury, native plants have less room to grow now as a result of the growth and spread of cities. And global warming is making some places hotter, drier, or otherwise different from what native plants are used to.
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