An analysis of the distribution of seed size: A case study of the gymnosperms

Abstract

Seed morphology is one of the most addressed issues in seeding plants studies due to its importance in the propagation of seeding plants, which can be related to the influence of the environment of the genetic structure in plant populations. A distribution analysis was conducted on extreme values (minimum and maximum) of seed width and length for gymnosperms spread within the Carpathian Mountains region. Combining the probabilities from independent tests successfully limited the best-fit distribution to a small number of distribution laws. Analyses revealed that the extreme values of investigated seed width and length best fit a log-logistic distribution or one of its generalised forms. The left-weighting of the distribution (to small sizes) revealed a better adaptation of small-sized seeding species. The extreme values of seed dimensions could be used to predict the dimension of a random observation, while the composition of the seeds, which is related to dimension, could provide phylogenetic information.