Although it does seem perverse to call seeds that germinate immediately "recalcitrant", the logic is apparently in the sense of "objecting to constraint" rather than "refractory" (from the OED's main definition). The OED gives the same source for the botanical meaning of the word as the article Mark cited: A.3. /Bot./ Of seeds: viable for only a short time; /spec./ unable to survive drying or freezing, making them difficult to preserve. Of a plant: having seeds of this kind. 1973 E. H. Roberts in /Seed Sci. & Technol./ *1* 501 In these seeds, which I shall refer to as recalcitrant, a decrease in moisture content below some relatively high value---anything between 12 and 31% moisture content, depending on the species---tends to decrease the period of viability. On 1/25/12 9:37 AM, Jane McGary wrote: > I wonder if the word people are looking for is "precocious"? > > Jane McGary > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/