Abstract
Palaeozoic fossil conifer cones bearing mature seeds with well developed cotyledonary embryos have been recovered from Permo-Carboniferous strata of North America. These are the most ancient embryos ever discovered within gymnosperm seeds1,2. In contrast to the pteridophytic ancestors of seed plants and other major groups of Palaeozoic gymnosperms3,4, these embryos indicate that there was a significant delay between fertilization and seed germination in the earliest conifers. We suspect that this post-zygotic quiescence may be a first step in the evolution of seed dormancy.
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Mapes, G., Rothwell, G. & Haworth, M. Evolution of seed dormancy. Nature 337, 645–646 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/337645a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/337645a0
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