SEED CHARACTERISTICS IN CONIFEROUS FORESTS 

 TABLE I 



The above table shows that seedlings will grow up through soil a 

 distance which is in direct relation to the size of the seed. The develop- 

 ment of the seedlings showed that they will grow to a size which is in direct 

 relation to the amount of nourishment stored in the seed. If the seedling 

 can not reach the surface before the supply of nourishment in the seed is 

 exhausted, it must die. On the other hand if it is able to get above the 

 ground, even as a final effort, the cotyledons open up at once and turn 

 green, enabling the seedling to obtain food through a new source, viz., the: 

 chlorophyll. 



It follows from this that seed may often germinate when covered with 

 litter and duff and the seedling may not reach the surface, on account of 

 the size of seed involved. Here then the larger-seeded species has an 

 advantage over the smaller-seeded species. 



The occurrence of seedlings or trees of any species on any site indicates 

 that the site is, to some extent at least, favorable to the species found there, 

 but it does not show that any other species would not establish itself or 

 develop well there if given an opportunity. It is frequently merely a 

 question as to which species first gets possession of an area immediately 

 after the virgin forest is removed, or which species first had the opportunity 

 of migrating there. In other instances it is clearly a matter of competition 

 between species as to their ability to withstand the conditions of the site- 

 involved. 



