Thanks very much Ben, but i have already had my answer many times over, recalcitrant does seem to aply to seed that is reluctant to withhold its germenation, reguardless of conditions & will continue to germenate *"post harvest & with the absence of aditional moisture. * From my understanding ! Precocious germination, is usually assioated with seeds that may germenate *"prior to harvest"* or can be post harvest too. Rather than post harvest only, & aditional moisture content is normally a relitave factor, weather it be due, rain or moisture within a fruit pulp. Precocious Germination is quite common with Proiphys Cunninghamii during warm rainy weather, this is a native species on my property & i see this regularly. These seeds can not be dried & if stored in the total absence of moisture they can sprout but more commanly wilt & die relitavely quickly, here in its native enyiroment. Precocious germination is also very common in many grains & some fruits. Barley, wheat & many other grain crops have this trate, for example barley or wheat will sprout on the seed head if there is too much rain prior to harvest & the crop is then lost. In addition, these grain species seeds can be successfully dried for many years & still germenate when required. Crinum & belladonna seeds however, "which were my original examples", are usually non-precocious, they do not usually sprout on the plant prior to harvest, although there is exceptions to the rule & thay do not have the ability to withhold their growth after harvest. They can not be dried under any circumstances, & are not able to be stored for long periods, reguardless of conditions, moisture content, light or temperature. They must be sown relitavely fresh or thay will begin to grow even inside a paper bag in the fridge, or inside a sealed glass bottle, unlike wheat that can be stored for years, & will not grow inside the bottle & can then be activated by moisture at any time... Hope that clears it up : ) Steven Esk Queensland Australia On Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 2:05 AM, Zonneveld, B.J.M. (Ben) < zonneveld@nhn.leidenuniv.nl> wrote: > > What about precocious germination? ( recalcitrant means the opposite) >