Processing - cleaning and testing the seeds
1. Assessment of likely seed storage characteristics
2. Seed cleaning
Mimosa lacerata from Mexico. The flat, prickly pods are adapted for wind and animal dispersal, but may present a challenge for the staff to clean.
Seed Bank staff carefully clean a batch of seeds
Seeds are travellers in both time and space. They are despatched from their mother plants in a variety of ways and forms; they may germinate years later and great distances away. It is the diversity of the dispersal systems that pose a challenge for collectors and later, back at the seed bank, for curation staff. Some seeds are borne aloft in winged fruits or are blown great distances at the end of a feathery parachute. Many seeds may set out on their journey within a brightly-coloured wet fruit that is eaten by birds. Other seeds develop inside hooked fruits that are whisked from the maternal plants and onto the fur of passing mammals.
Clean seed is sometimes collected in the field, for instance where the seeds are shed directly from a dry fruit capsule into the waiting seed bag. More often though, seed is collected when still within its fruit.
Once at the Millennium Seed Bank, releasing the seed unharmed from such diverse fruit types calls for great care and expertise. This cleaning is necessary to reduce bulk and disease risk. It also facilitates future use of the material. To limit damage, much of the work is done by hand using sieves. However, equipment such as an aspirator is used to winnow the debris from the heavier, filled seeds.
More information on seed cleaning
