During the past forty years, the Ransom Seed Laboratory has pioneered many testing protocols for the native seed industry.
This database has been developed to help standardize and clarify procedures to overcome some of the testing problems with individual native species which are not yet listed in the "A.O.S.A. Rules for Testing Seed". Each page attempts to familiarize the user with a short description of the species and how its seed structure might fit into the existing purity descriptions and methods of the A.O.S.A. rules.
Over the years, the market for this specialized and fascinating industry has expanded.
New uses of endemic species and growing interests in specialized habitats steadily increase the need for collecting and testing of native seeds.
We are providing this information as an educational resource to help pave the way toward the establishment of uniform testing methods for this complex, young native seed industry.
All the pictures and laboratory data in the following pages were taken from samples submitted to the Ransom Seed Laboratory for testing.