PH
Orchid seeds are remarkably tiny compared with the seeds of many familiar plants. They contain little or no stored food, so many orchids depend on relationships with fungi to obtain the resources needed for germination.
Their extremely small size allows orchids to produce enormous numbers of seeds.
The trade-off is that the seeds are poorly equipped to start growing independently.
A seed that looks almost like a speck of dust can eventually become a complex flowering orchid. (RHS)
© Royal Horticultural Society