ANCIENT SEEDS SPROUT
Two lotus seeds, believed to be 50,000 years old, began sprouting a few days after horticulturists in Washington, D.C., prepared them lor germination. The seeds were lound in Manchuria and made available to the United States by Dr Seido Endo, paleontologist of Sendai University in Japan. The two seeds, about the size of olive pips, had a tough oiiter covering that had to be filed through belore the growing process could be started. The first seed sprouted five days after being wrapped in damp cotton, the secon after seven days. They were then put in soil to remain until they mature sufficiently to be transferred to lotus pools. Scientists consider the sprouting a rare occurrance since few seeds will germinate after 100 years. Age of ! the seeds was estimated from the goological deposits in which they were found. The lotus plant is common in Asia. It has round leaves, about a foot in diameter, grows above water, and has a large fragrant flower.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TAUTIM19520116.2.22
Bibliographic details
Taupo Times, Volume I, Issue 1, 16 January 1952, Page 3
Word Count
166ANCIENT SEEDS SPROUT Taupo Times, Volume I, Issue 1, 16 January 1952, Page 3
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Taupo Times. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in