How long can seeds live?

For example, a seed of Canna compacta was germinated following extraction from a radio-carbon-dated 600 year old ceremonial rattle made of a walnut (Juglans australis) shell. Even older was a seed of the Indian or sacred lotus, Nelumbo nucifera, from an ancient lake bed in China. This seed was germinated and subsequently radio-carbon-dated by Shen-Miller and colleagues in California as being 1,288 ± 271 years old.  

Healthy plant of Leucospermum grown from 200+ year old seed which was found in a wallet belonging to a Dutch merchant. RBG Kew

Although the seed viability equation predicts survival for hundreds to thousands of years under gene-bank conditions (15% RH, -20°C), there are only a handful of credible reports of seeds actually surviving for ≥150 years. Recently we have conducted germination tests on seeds of 33 South African species collected in 1802/3. The seeds were found at the National Archives in London among the papers of a Dutch merchant, Jan Teerlink, whose ship was captured by British privateers during its return from the Far East via the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. Seeds of three species germinated: two legumes (Liparia sp. and Acacia sp.) and a Proteaceae (Leucospermum sp.). Our report in Seed Science Research (see below) of seeds surviving for over 200 years (supported by carbon-dating) under sub-optimal conditions, suggests adaptation for extreme seed longevity in species of seasonally dry Mediterranean environments.

MSBP scientists have been studying species differences in seed longevity using controlled ageing experiments. These experiments have revealed that seeds with small embryos from plants that grow in cool, moist environments are more likely to be short lived compared to seeds with large embryos that come from warmer drier regions.

Further information

• Daws, M.I., Davies, J., Vaes, E., van Gelder, R. & Pritchard, H.W. (2007) Two-hundred-year seed survival of Leucospermum and two other woody species from the Cape Floristic region, South Africa. Seed Science Research 17: 73-79.
• Robin J Probert, Mathew I Daws, and Fiona R Hay. (2009) Ecological correlates of ex situ seed longevity: a comparative study on 195 species. Annals of Botany 104, (1), 57–69.

Related links

• About Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Partnership
• MSBP projects and partners
• Science Directory - Kew Projects
• Get involved - Adopt a Seed, Save a Species