It's not unusual for dormancy to be used by plants to protect themselves against cold. Here it is just the seed. All the proteins and fats are there but water is not. Tender annual or perennial seed is regularly exposed to frost without damage from the cold, per se. Andrew San Diego From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Dennis Kramb Subject: Re: [pbs] Erythrina herbacea no guessing I potted up those seeds in February 2010. So they withstood winter temps for two winters... albeit a short 1st winter. Based on PBS feedback it seems impossible for those seedlings to have wintered over, so the seeds must have germinated this spring. That's fascinating (to me) to have hardy seeds from a non-hardy plant! _______________________________________________