Brown flax seeds

A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant. The formation of the seed completes the process of reproduction in seed plants (started with the development of flowers and pollination), with the embryo developed from the zygote and the seed coat from the integuments of the ovule.

Seeds have been an important development in the reproduction and spread of flowering plants, relative to more primitive plants such as mosses, ferns and liverworts, which do not have seeds and use other means to propagate themselves. This can be seen by the success of seed plants (both gymnosperms and angiosperms) in dominating biological niches on land, from forests to grasslands both in hot and cold climates.

The term "seed" also has a general meaning that antedates the above — anything that can be sown, e.g. "seed" potatoes, "seeds" of corn or sunflower "seeds". In the case of sunflower and corn "seeds", what is sown is the seed enclosed in a shell or husk, whereas the potato is a tuber.

Seed structure[link]

The parts of an avocado seed (a dicot), showing the seed coat, endosperm, and embryo

A typical seed includes three basic parts: (1) an embryo, (2) a supply of nutrients for the embryo, and (3) a seed coat.

The embryo is an immature plant from which a new plant will grow under proper conditions. The embryo has one cotyledon or seed leaf in monocotyledons, two cotyledons in almost all dicotyledons and two or more in gymnosperms. The radicle is the embryonic root. The plumule is the embryonic shoot. The embryonic stem above the point of attachment of the cotyledon(s) is the epicotyl. The embryonic stem below the point of attachment is the hypocotyl.

Within the seed, there usually is a store of nutrients for the seedling that will grow from the embryo. The form of the stored nutrition varies depending on the kind of plant. In angiosperms, the stored food begins as a tissue called the endosperm, which is derived from the parent plant via double fertilization. The usually triploid endosperm is rich in oil or starch and protein. In gymnosperms, such as conifers, the food storage tissue (also called endosperm) is part of the female gametophyte, a haploid tissue. In some species, the embryo is embedded in the endosperm or female gametophyte, which the seedling will use upon germination. In others, the endosperm is absorbed by the embryo as the latter grows within the developing seed, and the cotyledons of the embryo become filled with this stored food. At maturity, seeds of these species have no endosperm and are termed exalbuminous seeds. Some exalbuminous seeds are bean, pea, oak, walnut, squash, sunflower, and radish. Seeds with an endosperm at maturity are termed albuminous seeds. Most monocots (e.g. grasses and palms) and many dicots (e.g. Brazil nut and castor bean) have albuminous seeds. All gymnosperm seeds are albuminous.

The seed coat (the testa) develops from the tissue, the integument, originally surrounding the ovule. The seed coat in the mature seed can be a paper-thin layer (e.g. peanut) or something more substantial (e.g. thick and hard in honey locust and coconut). The seed coat helps protect the embryo from mechanical injury and from drying out.

In addition to the three basic seed parts, some seeds have an appendage on the seed coat such an aril (as in yew and nutmeg) or an elaiosome (as in Corydalis) or hairs (as in cotton). A scar also may remain on the seed coat, called the hilum, where the seed was attached to the ovary wall by the funiculus.

Kinds of seeds[link]

Many structures commonly referred to as "seeds" are actually dry fruits. Sunflower seeds are sold commercially while still enclosed within the hard wall of the fruit, which must be split open to reach the seed. Different groups of plants have other modifications, the so-called stone fruits (such as the peach) have a hardened fruit layer (the endocarp) fused to and surrounding the actual seed. Nuts are the one-seeded, hard shelled fruit, of some plants, with an indehiscent seed, such as an acorn or hazelnut.

Seed production[link]

Seeds are produced in several related groups of plants, and their manner of production distinguishes the angiosperms ("enclosed seeds") from the gymnosperms ("naked seeds"). Angiosperm seeds are produced in a hard or fleshy structure called a fruit that encloses the seeds, hence the name. (Some fruits have layers of both hard and fleshy material). In gymnosperms, no special structure develops to enclose the seeds, which begin their development "naked" on the bracts of cones. However, the seeds do become covered by the cone scales as they develop in some species of conifer.

Seed production in natural plant populations vary widely from year-to-year in response to weather variables, insects and diseases, and internal cycles within the plants themselves. Over a 20-year period, for example, forests composed of loblolly pine and shortleaf pine produced from 0 to nearly 5 million sound pine seeds per hectare.^[1] Over this period, there were six bumper, five poor, and nine good seed crops, when evaluated in regard to producing adequate seedlings for natural forest reproduction.

Seed development[link]

The inside of a Ginkgo seed, showing a well-developed embryo, nutritive tissue (megagametophyte), and a bit of the surrounding seed coat

Diagram of the internal structure of a dicot seed and embryo: (a) seed coat, (b) endosperm, (c) cotyledon, (d) hypocotyl

The seed, which is an embryo with two points of growth (one of which forms the stem, the other the roots) is enclosed in a seed coat with some food reserves. Angiosperm seeds consist of three genetically distinct constituents: (1) the embryo formed from the zygote, (2) the endosperm, which is normally triploid, (3) the seed coat from tissue derived from the maternal tissue of the ovule. In angiosperms, the process of seed development begins with double fertilization and involves the fusion of the egg and sperm nuclei into a zygote. The second part of this process is the fusion of the polar nuclei with a second sperm cell nucleus, thus forming a primary endosperm. Right after fertilization, the zygote is mostly inactive, but the primary endosperm divides rapidly to form the endosperm tissue. This tissue becomes the food the young plant will consume until the roots have developed after germination. The seed coat forms from the two integuments or outer layers of cells of the ovule, which derive from tissue from the mother plant, the inner integument forms the tegmen and the outer forms the testa. When the seed coat forms from only one layer, it is also called the testa, though not all such testae are homologous from one species to the next.

In gymnosperms, the two sperm cells transferred from the pollen do not develop seed by double fertilization, but one sperm nucleus unites with the egg nucleus and the other sperm is not used.^[2] Sometimes each sperm fertilizes an egg cell and one zygote is then aborted or absorbed during early development.^[3] The seed is composed of the embryo (the result of fertilization) and tissue from the mother plant, which also form a cone around the seed in coniferous plants such as pine and spruce.

The ovules after fertilization develop into the seeds; the main parts of the ovule are the funicle; which attaches the ovule to the placenta, the nucellus; the main region of the ovule where the megagametophyte develops, the micropyle; a small pore or opening in the ovule where the pollen tube usually enters during the process of fertilization, and the chalaza; the base of the ovule opposite the micropyle, where integument and nucellus are joined together.^[4]

The shape of the ovules as they develop often affects the final shape of the seeds. Plants generally produce ovules of four shapes: the most common shape is called anatropous, with a curved shape. Orthotropous ovules are straight with all the parts of the ovule lined up in a long row producing an uncurved seed. Campylotropous ovules have a curved megagametophyte often giving the seed a tight “C” shape. The last ovule shape is called amphitropous, where the ovule is partly inverted and turned back 90 degrees on its stalk (the funiculus).

In the majority of flowering plants, the zygote's first division is transversely oriented in regards to the long axis, and this establishes the polarity of the embryo. The upper or chalazal pole becomes the main area of growth of the embryo, while the lower or micropylar pole produces the stalk-like suspensor that attaches to the micropyle. The suspensor absorbs and manufacturers nutrients from the endosperm that are used during the embryo's growth.^[5]

The embryo is composed of different parts; the epicotyle will grow into the shoot, the radicle grows into the primary root, the hypocotyl connects the epicotyle and the radicle, the cotyledons form the seed leaves. Monocotyledonous plants have other structures; instead of the hypocotyle-epicotyle, it has a coleoptile that forms the first leaf and connects to the coleorhiza that connects to the primary root and adventitious roots form from the sides. The seeds of corn are constructed with these structures; pericarp, scutellum (single large cotyledon) that absorbs nutrients from the endosperm, endosperm, plumule, radicle, coleoptile and coleorhiza - these last two structures are sheath-like and enclose the plumule and radicle, acting as a protective covering. The testae or seed coats of both monocots and dicots are often marked with patterns and textured markings, or have wings or tufts of hair.

Seed size and seed set[link]

A collection of various vegetable and herb seeds

Seeds are very diverse in size. The dust-like orchid seeds are the smallest, with about one million seeds per gram; they are often embryonic seeds with immature embryos and no significant energy reserves. Orchids and a few other groups of plants are mycoheterotrophs which depend on mycorrhizal fungi for nutrition during germination and the early growth of the seedling. Some terrestrial orchid seedlings, in fact, spend the first few years of their lives deriving energy from the fungi and do not produce green leaves.^[6] At over 20 kg, the largest seed is the coco de mer. Plants that produce smaller seeds can generate many more seeds per flower, while plants with larger seeds invest more resources into those seeds and normally produce fewer seeds. Small seeds are quicker to ripen and can be dispersed sooner, so fall blooming plants often have small seeds. Many annual plants produce great quantities of smaller seeds; this helps to ensure at least a few will end in a favorable place for growth. Herbaceous perennials and woody plants often have larger seeds; they can produce seeds over many years, and larger seeds have more energy reserves for germination and seedling growth and produce larger, more established seedlings after germination.^[7][8]

Seed functions[link]

Seeds serve several functions for the plants that produce them. Key among these functions are nourishment of the embryo, dispersal to a new location, and dormancy during unfavorable conditions. Seeds fundamentally are a means of reproduction and most seeds are the product of sexual reproduction which produces a remixing of genetic material and phenotype variability that natural selection acts on.

Embryo nourishment[link]

Seeds protect and nourish the embryo or young plant. Seeds usually give a seedling a faster start than a sporeling from a spore, because of the larger food reserves in the seed and the multicellularity of the enclosed embryo.

Seed dispersal[link]

Unlike animals, plants are limited in their ability to seek out favorable conditions for life and growth. As a result, plants have evolved many ways to disperse their offspring by dispersing their seeds (see also vegetative reproduction). A seed must somehow "arrive" at a location and be there at a time favorable for germination and growth. When the fruits open and release their seeds in a regular way, it is called dehiscent, which is often distinctive for related groups of plants; these fruits include capsules, follicles, legumes, silicles and siliques. When fruits do not open and release their seeds in a regular fashion they are called indehiscent, which include the fruits achenes, caryopsis, nuts, samaras, and utricles.^[9]

Seed dispersal is seen most obviously in fruits; however many seeds aid in their own dispersal. Some kinds of seeds are dispersed while still inside a fruit or cone, which later opens or disintegrates to release the seeds. Other seeds are expelled or released from the fruit prior to dispersal. For example, milkweeds produce a fruit type, known as a follicle,^[10] that splits open along one side to release the seeds. Iris capsules split into three "valves" to release their seeds.^[11]

By wind (anemochory)[link]

Dandelion seeds are contained within achenes, which can be carried long distances by the wind.

The seed pod of milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

• Some seeds (e.g., pine) have a wing that aids in wind dispersal.
• The dustlike seeds of orchids are carried efficiently by the wind.
• Some seeds, (e.g. milkweed, poplar) have hairs that aid in wind dispersal.^[12]

Other seeds are enclosed in fruit structures that aid wind dispersal in similar ways:

• Dandelion achenes have hairs.
• Maple samaras have two wings.

By water (hydrochory)[link]

• Some plants, such as Mucuna and Dioclea, produce buoyant seeds termed sea-beans or drift seeds because they float in rivers to the oceans and wash up on beaches.^[13]

By animals (zoochory)[link]

• Seeds (burrs) with barbs or hooks (e.g. acaena, burdock, dock) which attach to animal fur or feathers, and then drop off later.
• Seeds with a fleshy covering (e.g. apple, cherry, juniper) are eaten by animals (birds, mammals, reptiles, fish) which then disperse these seeds in their droppings.
• Seeds (nuts) which are an attractive long-term storable food resource for animals (e.g. acorns, hazelnut, walnut); the seeds are stored some distance from the parent plant, and some escape being eaten if the animal forgets them.

Myrmecochory is the dispersal of seeds by ants. Foraging ants disperse seeds which have appendages called elaiosomes^[14] (e.g. bloodroot, trilliums, Acacias, and many species of Proteaceae). Elaiosomes are soft, fleshy structures that contain nutrients for animals that eat them. The ants carry such seeds back to their nest, where the elaiosomes are eaten. The remainder of the seed, which is hard and inedible to the ants, then germinates either within the nest or at a removal site where the seed has been discarded by the ants.^[15] This dispersal relationship is an example of mutualism, since the plants depend upon the ants to disperse seeds, while the ants depend upon the plants seeds for food. As a result, a drop in numbers of one partner can reduce success of the other. In South Africa, the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) has invaded and displaced native species of ants. Unlike the native ant species, Argentine ants do not collect the seeds of Mimetes cucullatus or eat the elaiosomes. In areas where these ants have invaded, the numbers of Mimetes seedlings have dropped.^[16]

Seed dormancy[link]

Seed dormancy has two main functions: the first is synchronizing germination with the optimal conditions for survival of the resulting seedling; the second is spreading germination of a batch of seeds over time so that a catastrophe after germination (e.g. late frosts, drought, herbivory) does not result in the death of all offspring of a plant (bet-hedging).^[17] Seed dormancy is defined as a seed failing to germinate under environmental conditions optimal for germination, normally when the environment is at a suitable temperature with proper soil moisture. This true dormancy or innate dormancy is therefore caused by conditions within the seed that prevent germination. Thus dormancy is a state of the seed, not of the environment.^[18] Induced dormancy, enforced dormancy or seed quiescence occurs when a seed fails to germinate because the external environmental conditions are inappropriate for germination, mostly in response to conditions being too dark or light, too cold or hot, or too dry.

Seed dormancy is not the same as seed persistence in the soil or on the plant, though even in scientific publications dormancy and persistence are often confused or used as synonyms.^[19]

Often seed dormancy is divided into four major categories: exogenous; endogenous; combinational; and secondary. A more recent system distinguishes five classes of dormancy:morphological, physiological, morphophysiological, physical and combinational dormancy.^[20]

Exogenous dormancy is caused by conditions outside the embryo including:

• Physical dormancy or hard seed coats occurs when seeds are impermeable to water. At dormancy break a specialized structure, the ‘water gap’, is disrupted in response to environmental cues, especially temperature, so that water can enter the seed and germination can occur. Plant families where physical dormancy occurs include Anacardiaceae, Cannaceae, Convulvulaceae, Fabaceae and Malvaceae.^[21]
• Chemical dormancy considers species that lack physiological dormancy, but where a chemical prevents germination. This chemical can be leached out of the seed by rainwater or snow melt or be deactivated somehow.^[22] Leaching of chemical inhibitors from the seed by rain water is often cited as an important cause of dormancy release in seeds of desert plants, however little evidence exists to support this claim.^[23]

Endogenous dormancy is caused by conditions within the embryo itself, including:

• Morphological dormancy where germination is prevented due to morphological characteristics of the embryo. In some species the embryo is just a mass of cells when seeds are dispersed, it is not differentiated. Before germination can take place both differentiation and growth of the embryo have to occur. In other species the embryo is differentiated but not fully grown (underdeveloped) at dispersal and embryo growth up to a species specific length is required before germination can occur. Examples of plant families where morphological dormancy occurs are Apiaceae, Cycadaceae, Liliaceae, Magnoliaceae and Ranunculaceae.^[24][25]
• Morphophysiological dormancy seeds with underdeveloped embryos, and which in addition have physiological components to dormancy. These seeds therefore require a dormancy-breaking treatments as well as a period of time to develop fully grown embryos. Plant families where morphophysiological dormancy occurs include Apiaceae, Aquifoliaceae, Liliaceae, Magnoliaceae, Papaveraceae and Ranunculaceae.^[24] Some plants with morphophysiological dormancy like Asarum or Trillium species have multiple types of dormancy, one affects radicle (root) growth while the other affects plumule (shoot) growth. The terms "double dormancy" and "2-year seeds" are used for species whose seeds need two years to complete germination or at least two winters and one summer. Dormancy of the radicle (seedling root)is broken during the first winter after dispersal while dormancy of the shoot bud is broken during the second winter.^[24]
• Physiological dormancy means that the embryo can, due to physiological causes, not generate enough power to break through the seed coat, endosperm or other covering structures. Dormancy is typically broken at cool wet, warm wet or warm dry conditions. Abscisic acid is usually the growth inhibitor in seeds and its production can be affected by light.
  • Drying; some plants including a number of grasses and those from seasonally arid regions need a period of drying before they will germinate. The seeds are released but need to have a lower moisture content before germination can begin. If the seeds remain moist after dispersal, germination can be delayed for many months or even years. Many herbaceous plants from temperate climate zones have physiological dormancy that disappears with drying of the seeds. Other species will germinate after dispersal only under very narrow temperature ranges, but as the seeds dry they are able to germinate over a wider temperature range.^[26]

• Combinational dormancy In seeds with combinational dormancy the seed or fruit coat is impermeable to water and the embryo has physiological dormancy. Depending on the species physical dormancy can be broken before or after physiological dormancy is broken.^[25]

• Secondary dormancy* is caused by conditions after the seed has been dispersed and occurs in some seeds when non-dormant seed is exposed to conditions that are not favorable to germination, very often high temperatures. The mechanisms of secondary dormancy are not yet fully understood but might involve the loss of sensitivity in receptors in the plasma membrane.^[27]

The following types of seed dormancy do not involve seed dormancy strictly spoken as lack of germination is prevented by the environment not by characteristics of the seed itself (see Germination):

• Photodormancy or light sensitivity affects germination of some seeds. These photoblastic seeds need a period of darkness or light to germinate. In species with thin seed coats, light may be able to penetrate into the dormant embryo. The presence of light or the absence of light may trigger the germination process, inhibiting germination in some seeds buried too deeply or in others not buried in the soil.
• Thermodormancy is seed sensitivity to heat or cold. Some seeds including cocklebur and amaranth germinate only at high temperatures (30C or 86F) many plants that have seed that germinate in early to mid summer have thermodormancy and germinate only when the soil temperature is warm. Other seeds need cool soils to germinate, while others like celery are inhibited when soil temperatures are too warm. Often thermodormancy requirements disappear as the seed ages or dries.

Not all seeds undergo a period of dormancy. Seeds of some mangroves are viviparous, they begin to germinate while still attached to the parent. The large, heavy root allows the seed to penetrate into the ground when it falls. Many garden plants have seeds that will germinate readily as soon as they have water and are warm enough, though their wild ancestors may have had dormancy, these cultivated plants lack seed dormancy. After many generations of selective pressure by plant breeders and gardeners dormancy has been selected out.

For annuals, seeds are a way for the species to survive dry or cold seasons. Ephemeral plants are usually annuals that can go from seed to seed in as few as six weeks.^[28]

Seed persistence and seed banks[link]

Seed germination[link]

Germinating sunflower seedlings.

Seed germination is a process by which a seed embryo develops into a seedling. It involves the reactivation of the metabolic pathways that lead to growth and the emergence of the radicle or seed root and plumule or shoot. The emergence of the seedling above the soil surface is the next phase of the plant's growth and is called seedling establishment.^[29]

Three fundamental conditions must exist before germination can occur. (1) The embryo must be alive, called seed viability. (2) Any dormancy requirements that prevent germination must be overcome. (3) The proper environmental conditions must exist for germination.

Seed viability is the ability of the embryo to germinate and is affected by a number of different conditions. Some plants do not produce seeds that have functional complete embryos or the seed may have no embryo at all, often called empty seeds. Predators and pathogens can damage or kill the seed while it is still in the fruit or after it is dispersed. Environmental conditions like flooding or heat can kill the seed before or during germination. The age of the seed affects its health and germination ability: since the seed has a living embryo, over time cells die and cannot be replaced. Some seeds can live for a long time before germination, while others can only survive for a short period after dispersal before they die.

Seed vigor is a measure of the quality of seed, and involves the viability of the seed, the germination percentage, germination rate and the strength of the seedlings produced.^[30]

The germination percentage is simply the proportion of seeds that germinate from all seeds subject to the right conditions for growth. The germination rate is the length of time it takes for the seeds to germinate. Germination percentages and rates are affected by seed viability, dormancy and environmental effects that impact on the seed and seedling. In agriculture and horticulture quality seeds have high viability, measured by germination percentage plus the rate of germination. This is given as a percent of germination over a certain amount of time, 90% germination in 20 days, for example. 'Dormancy' is covered above; many plants produce seeds with varying degrees of dormancy, and different seeds from the same fruit can have different degrees of dormancy.^[31] It's possible to have seeds with no dormancy if they are dispersed right away and do not dry (if the seeds dry they go into physiological dormancy). There is great variation amongst plants and a dormant seed is still a viable seed even though the germination rate might be very low.

Environmental conditions effecting seed germination include; water, oxygen, temperature and light.

Three distinct phases of seed germination occur: water imbibition; lag phase; and radicle emergence.

In order for the seed coat to split, the embryo must imbibe (soak up water), which causes it to swell, splitting the seed coat. However, the nature of the seed coat determines how rapidly water can penetrate and subsequently initiate germination. The rate of imbibition is dependent on the permeability of the seed coat, amount of water in the environment and the area of contact the seed has to the source of water. For some seeds, imbibing too much water too quickly can kill the seed. For some seeds, once water is imbibed the germination process cannot be stopped, and drying then becomes fatal. Other seeds can imbibe and lose water a few times without causing ill effects, but drying can cause secondary dormancy.

Inducing germination[link]

A number of different strategies are used by gardeners and horticulturists to break seed dormancy.

Scarification which allows water and gases to penetrate into the seed, include methods that physically break the hard seed coats or soften them by chemicals. Means of scarification include soaking in hot water or poking holes in the seed with a pin or rubbing them on sandpaper or cracking with a press or hammer. Soaking the seeds in solvents or acids is also effective for many seeds. Sometimes fruits are harvested while the seeds are still immature and the seed coat is not fully developed and sown right away before the seed coat become impermeable. Under natural conditions seed coats are worn down by rodents chewing on the seed, the seeds rubbing against rocks (seeds are moved by the wind or water currents), by undergoing freezing and thawing of surface water, or passing through an animal's digestive tract. In the latter case, the seed coat protects the seed from digestion, while often weakening the seed coat such that the embryo is ready to sprout when it gets deposited (along with a bit of fertilizer) far from the parent plant. Microorganisms are often effective in breaking down hard seed coats and are sometimes used by people as a treatment, the seeds are stored in a moist warm sandy medium for several months under non-sterile conditions.

Stratification also called moist-chilling is a method to break down physiological dormancy and involves the addition of moisture to the seeds so they imbibe water and then the seeds are subject to a period of moist chilling to after-ripen the embryo. Sowing outside in late summer and fall and allowing to overwinter outside under cool conditions is an effective way to stratify seeds, some seeds respond more favorably to periods of oscillating temperatures which are part of the natural environment.

Leaching or the soaking in water removes chemical inhibitors in some seeds that prevent germination. Rain and melting snow naturally accomplish this task. For seeds planted in gardens, running water is best - if soaked in a container, 12 to 24 hours of soaking is sufficient. Soaking longer, especially in stagnant water that is not changed, can result in oxygen starvation and seed death. Seeds with hard seed coats can be soaked in hot water to break open the impermeable cell layers that prevent water intake.

Other methods used to assist in the germination of seeds that have dormancy include prechilling, predrying, daily alternation of temperature, light exposure, potassium nitrate, the use of plant growth regulators like gibberellins, cytokinins, ethylene, thiourea, sodium hypochlorite plus others.^[32] Some seeds germinate best after a fire, for some seeds fire cracks hard seed coats while in other seeds chemical dormancy is broken in reaction to the presence of smoke, liquid smoke is often used by gardeners to assist in the germination of these species.^[33]

Origin and evolution[link]

The origin of seed plants is a problem that still remains unsolved. However, more and more data tends to place this origin in the middle Devonian. The description in 2004 of the proto-seed Runcaria heinzelinii in the Givetian of Belgium is an indication of that ancient origin of seed-plants. As with modern ferns, most land plants before this time reproduced by sending spores into the air, that would land and become whole new plants.

The first "true" seeds are described from the upper Devonian, which is probably the theater of their true first evolutionary radiation. The seed plants progressively became one of the major elements of nearly all ecosystems.

Economic importance[link]

A variety of bean seeds.

Edible seeds[link]

Many seeds are edible and the majority of human calories comes from seeds,^[34] especially from cereals, legumes and nuts. Seeds also provide most cooking oils, many beverages and spices and some important food additives. In different seeds the seed embryo or the endosperm dominates and provides most of the nutrients. The storage proteins of the embryo and endosperm differ in their amino acid content and physical properties. For example the gluten of wheat, important in providing the elastic property to bread dough is strictly an endosperm protein.

Seeds are used to propagate many crops such as cereals, legumes, forest trees, turfgrasses and pasture grasses. Particularly in developing countries, a major constraint faced is the inadequacy of the marketing channels to get the seed to poor farmers.^[35] Thus the use of farmer-retained seed remains quite common.

Seeds are also eaten by animals, and are fed to livestock. Many seeds are used as birdseed.

Poison and food safety[link]

While some seeds are edible, others are harmful, poisonous or deadly.^[36] Plants and seeds often contain chemical compounds to discourage herbivores and seed predators. In some cases, these compounds simply taste bad (such as in mustard), but other compounds are toxic or break down into toxic compounds within the digestive system. Children, being smaller than adults, are more susceptible to poisoning by plants and seeds.^[37]

A deadly poison, ricin, comes from seeds of the castor bean. Reported lethal doses are anywhere from two to eight seeds,^[38][39] though only a few deaths have been reported when castor beans have been ingested by animals.^[40]

In addition, seeds containing amygdalin—apple, apricot, bitter almond,^[41] peach, plum, cherry, quince, and others—when consumed in sufficient amounts, may cause Cyanide poisoning.^[41][42] Other seeds that contain poisons include annona, cotton, custard apple, datura, uncooked durian, golden chain, horse-chestnut, larkspur, locoweed, lychee, nectarine, rambutan, rosary pea, sour sop, sugar apple, wisteria, and yew.^[43][44] The seeds of the strychnine tree are also poisonous, containing the poison strychnine.

The seeds of many legumes, including the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), contain proteins called lectins which can cause gastric distress if the beans are eaten without cooking. The common bean and many others, including the soybean, also contain trypsin inhibitors which interfere with the action of the digestive enzyme trypsin. Normal cooking processes degrade lectins and trypsin inhibitors to harmless forms.^[45]

Please see the category plant toxins for further relevant articles.

Other uses[link]

Flax seed oil (in bottles) and coconut oil (in jars in the middle).

Cotton fiber grows attached to cotton plant seeds. Other seed fibers are from kapok and milkweed.

Many important nonfood oils are extracted from seeds. Linseed oil is used in paints. Oil from jojoba and crambe are similar to whale oil.

Seeds are the source of some medicines including castor oil, tea tree oil and the discredited cancer drug, Laetrile.

Many seeds have been used as beads in necklaces and rosaries including Job's tears, Chinaberry, rosary pea, and castor bean. However, the latter three are also poisonous.

Other seed uses include:

• Seeds once used as weights for balances.
• Seeds used as toys by children, such as for the game Conkers.
• Resin from Clusia rosea seeds used to caulk boats.
• Nematicide from milkweed seeds.
• Cottonseed meal used as animal feed and fertilizer.

Seed records[link]

The massive fruit of the coco de mer.

• The oldest viable carbon-14-dated seed that has grown into a plant was a Judean date palm seed about 2,000 years old, recovered from excavations at Herod the Great's palace on Masada in Israel. It was germinated in 2005.^[46] (A reported regeneration of Silene stenophylla (narrow-leafed campion) from material preserved for 31,800 years in the Siberian permafrost was achieved using fruit tissue, not seed.^[47][48])

• The largest seed is produced by the coco de mer, or "double coconut palm", Lodoicea maldivica. The entire fruit may weigh up to 23 kilograms (50 pounds) and usually contains a single seed.^[49]

• The earliest fossil seeds are around 365 million years old from the Late Devonian of West Virginia. The seeds are preserved immature ovules of the plant Elkinsia polymorpha.^[50]

See also[link]

Biology portal

• Biological dispersal
• Germination
• List of edible seeds
• List of world's largest seeds
• Recalcitrant seed
• Seed company
• Seed enhancement
• Seed orchard
• Seed paper
• Seed predation
• Seed saving
• Seed testing
• Seed trap
• Seedbed
• Seedling
• Soil seed bank
• Stratification

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Seed

Look up seed in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• List of Common Botanical Seed Names
• The Seed Site: collecting, storing, sowing, germinating, and exchanging seeds, with pictures of seeds, seedpods and seedlings.
• The Seed Biology Place seed structure, dormany, evolution, ecology, etc.
• Flavon's Secret Flower Garden - Pictures of Japanese plant seeds, fruits and etc.
• The Millennium Seed Bank Project Kew Garden's ambitious preservation project
• The Svalbard Global Seed Vault - a backup facility for the world's seed banks

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Cody Chesnutt
Cody ChesnuTT at the 2011 Ilosaarirock festival.
Background information
Born	1968 (age 43–44)
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia
Genres	Rock and roll, R&B, soul
Occupations	Composer, musician
Associated acts	The Crosswalk

Cody Chesnutt performing at Martin Luther's Rebel Soul Fest in San Francisco, July 2008.

Cody Chesnutt (stylized as Cody ChesnuTT, born 1968^[1]) is an American R&B and neo soul musician from Atlanta, Georgia.

Biography[link]

Chesnutt's music blends elements of rock, funk, soul, hip hop, and blues. After relocating to Los Angelos, Chesnutt found work with Death Row records, writing and producing five songs for the male R&B group Six Feet Deep. Chesnutt and his former band, The Crosswalk, had a brief stint with Hollywood Records in which they were later booted from the label. The band subsequently broke up and Chesnutt released a double LP in 2002 entitled The Headphone Masterpiece, which was recorded on a 4-track cassette recorder in his bedroom recording studio, which he calls "The Sonic Promiseland".

His closest brush with mainstream success came in 2002, when the hip hop group The Roots remade a song from his album, "The Seed", for their album Phrenology, as "The Seed (2.0)". Chesnutt plays guitar and sings vocals on the track, and appears in its music video, which received heavy airplay on MTV and BET. At the height of his popularity, Chesnutt's backing band consisted of drummer Craig Waters, now with the band The Bellrays, and bassist Aaron Ebensperger. In October 2003, Cody Chesnutt was nominated for the prestigious Shortlist Music Prize, and performed in the ceremony for the prize at the Wiltern Theatre in California.

In 2006, Chesnutt appeared in the music documentary Dave Chappelle's Block Party, which was originally recorded in September 2004. The same year, he recorded the track "Boils" for the 4AD records album Plague Songs. On his Myspace announced an upcoming album titled The Live Release, which he has been performing around the world but is yet to be released. In 2007, he performed at the Pop Montreal music festival as one of the headliners.

In 2010 he released an EP called Black Skin No Value. Furthermore he stated in an interview that he will publish his second big album Landing On A Hundred in 2012.^[2]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 2002: The Headphone Masterpiece
• 2006: The Live Release (unpublished)
• 2010: Black Skin No Value (EP)
• 2012: Landing On A Hundred^[3]

Singles[link]

• 2001: Look Good in Leather ("AXE Instinct"-Werbespot (2009))
• 2002: "The World Is Coming"^[4]
• 2002: "The Seed (2.0)" (featuring The Roots) (UK #33)
• 2006: "The Last Adam"
• 2008: "Afrobama"^[5]
• 2010: "Come Back Like Spring" ^[6]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Cody Chesnutt on Myspace

Bettie Page
Playboy centerfold appearance
January 1955
Preceded by	Terry Ryan
Succeeded by	Jayne Mansfield
Personal details
Born	Betty Mae Page (1923-04-22)April 22, 1923 Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Died	December 11, 2008(2008-12-11) (aged 85) Los Angeles, California, USA
Measurements	Bust: 36" Waist: 23" Hips: 36½"
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)[1]

Bettie Mae Page (April 22, 1923 Nashville, Tennessee – December 11, 2008^[2][3]) was an American model who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin-up photos. She has often been called the "Queen of Pinups".^[4] Her look, including her jet black hair, blue eyes and trademark bangs, has influenced many artists.

She was "Miss January 1955", one of the earliest Playmates of the Month for Playboy magazine. "I think that she was a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our society,"^[5] Playboy founder Hugh Hefner told the Associated Press.

In 1959, she converted to born-again Christianity, and later worked for Billy Graham.^[6] Her later life was marked by depression, violent mood swings and several years in a state psychiatric hospital.^[7][8] After years of obscurity, she experienced a resurgence of popularity in the 1980s.

Early life[link]

Page was the second of six children born to Walter Roy Page and Edna Mae Pirtle.^[9][10] At a young age, Page had to face the responsibilities of caring for her younger siblings. Her parents divorced when she was 10 years old. (In the 1930 Census, a few weeks before Bettie's 7th birthday, her mother Edna Pirtle Page was already listed as being divorced.^{[citation needed]} After her father, whom Page would accuse of molesting her starting at age 13, was imprisoned,^[11] Page and her two sisters lived in an orphanage for a year.^{[citation needed]} During this time, Page's mother worked two jobs, one as a hairdresser during the day and washing laundry at night.^{[citation needed]}

As a teenager, Page and her sisters tried different makeup styles and hairdos imitating their favorite movie stars. She also learned to sew. These skills proved useful years later for her pin-up photography when Page did her own makeup and hair and made her own bikinis and costumes. During her early years, the Page family traveled around the country in search of economic stability.^[10]

A good student and debate team member at Hume-Fogg High School, she was voted "Most Likely to Succeed".^[10] On June 6, 1940, Page graduated as the salutatorian of her high school class^[10] with a scholarship. She enrolled at George Peabody College, with the intention of becoming a teacher. However, the next fall she began studying acting, hoping to become a movie star. At the same time, she got her first job, typing for author Alfred Leland Crabb. Page graduated from Peabody with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1944.

In 1943, she married high school classmate Billy Neal in a simple courthouse ceremony shortly before he was drafted into the Navy for World War II.^[12][13] For the next few years, she moved from San Francisco to Nashville to Miami and to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where she felt a special affinity with the country and its culture.^[10] In November 1947, back in the United States, she filed for divorce.^{[citation needed]}

Modeling career[link]

Following her divorce, Page worked briefly in San Francisco, and in Haiti. In 1949,^[14] she moved to New York City, where she hoped to find work as an actress. In the meantime, she supported herself by working as a secretary. In 1950, while walking along the Coney Island shore, she met Jerry Tibbs, a police officer with an interest in photography. She was a willing model, and Tibbs took pictures of her and put together her first pinup portfolio.^[10]

In late-1940s America, "camera clubs" were formed to circumvent laws restricting the production of nude photos. These clubs existed, ostensibly, to promote artistic photography; but in reality, many were merely fronts for the making of pornography. Page entered the field of "glamour photography" as a popular camera club model, working initially with photographer Cass Carr.^[10] Her lack of inhibition in posing made her a hit. Her name and image became quickly known in the erotic photography industry; in 1951, her image appeared in men's magazines such as Wink, Titter, Eyefull and Beauty Parade.^[10]

Bettie Page is tied and spanked in an image from Bizarre

From 1952 through 1957, she posed for photographer Irving Klaw for mail-order photographs with pin-up, bondage or sadomasochistic themes, making her the first famous bondage model. Klaw also used Page in dozens of short, black-and-white 8mm and 16mm "specialty" films, which catered to specific requests from his clientele. These silent featurettes showed women clad in lingerie and high heels, acting out fetishistic scenarios of abduction, domination, and slave-training; bondage, spanking, and elaborate leather costumes and restraints were included periodically. Page alternated between playing a stern dominatrix, and a helpless victim bound hand and foot. Klaw also produced a line of still photos taken during these sessions. Some have become iconic images, such as his highest-selling photo of Page—shown gagged and bound in a web of ropes, from the film Leopard Bikini Bound. Although these "underground" features had the same crude style and clandestine distribution as the pornographic "stag" films of the time, Klaw's all-female films (and still photos) never featured any nudity or explicit sexual content.

In 1953, Page took acting classes at the Herbert Berghof Studio, which led to several roles on stage and television. She appeared on The United States Steel Hour and The Jackie Gleason Show.^[10] Her Off-Broadway productions included Time is a Thief and Sunday Costs Five Pesos. Page acted and danced in the feature-length burlesque revue film Striporama by Jerald Intrator. She was given a brief speaking role, the only time her voice has been captured on film. She then appeared in two more burlesque films by Irving Klaw (Teaserama and Varietease). These featured exotic dance routines and vignettes by Page and well-known striptease artists Lili St. Cyr and Tempest Storm. All three films were mildly risque, but none showed any nudity or overtly sexual content.

In 1954, during one of her annual vacations to Miami, Florida, Page met photographers Jan Caldwell, H. W. Hannau and Bunny Yeager.^[10] At that time, Page was the top pin-up model in New York. Yeager, a former model and aspiring photographer, signed Page for a photo session at the now-closed wildlife park Africa USA in Boca Raton, Florida. The Jungle Bettie photographs from this shoot are among her most celebrated. They include nude shots with a pair of cheetahs named Mojah and Mbili. The leopard skin patterned Jungle Girl outfit she wore was made, along with much of her lingerie, by Page herself. A large collection of the Yeager photos, and Klaw's, were published in the book Bettie Page Confidential (St. Martin's Press, 1994).

After Yeager sent shots of Page to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, he selected one to use as the Playmate of the Month centerfold in the January 1955 issue of the two-year-old magazine. The famous photo shows Page, wearing only a Santa hat, kneeling before a Christmas tree holding an ornament and playfully winking at the camera.

In 1955, Page won the title "Miss Pinup Girl of the World".^[10] She also became known as "The Queen of Curves" and "The Dark Angel". While pin-up and glamour models frequently have careers measured in months, Page was in demand for several years, continuing to model until 1957.^[4] Although she frequently posed nude, she never appeared in scenes with explicit sexual content.

In 1957, Page gave "expert guidance" to the FBI regarding the production of "flagellation and bondage pictures" in Harlem.^[15]

The reasons reported for her departure from modeling vary. Some reports mention the Kefauver Hearings of the United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce (after a young man apparently died during a session of bondage which was rumored to be inspired by bondage images featuring Page). In fact, the Senate committee called her to testify to explain the photos in which she appeared, but then excused her from testifying; however, the print negatives of many of her photos were subsequently destroyed by court order, which ended Klaw's bondage and S&M mail-order photography business.^{[citation needed]} For many years after, the negatives that survived were illegal to print.^{[citation needed]} However, the most obvious reason for ending her modeling career and severing all contact with her prior life was her conversion to born-again Christianity while living in Key West, Florida. in 1959.^[16]

Years out of the spotlight[link]

Photographer Sam Menning was the last person to photograph a pin-up of Page before her retirement.^[17]

On New Year's Eve 1958, during one of her regular visits to Key West, Florida Page attended a service at what is now the Key West Temple Baptist Church. She found herself drawn to the multiracial environment and started to attend on a regular basis. She would in time attend three bible colleges, including the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, Oregon and, briefly, a Christian retreat known as "Bibletown", part of the Boca Raton Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida.

She dated industrial designer Richard Arbib in the 1950s.^{[citation needed]} She then married Armond Walterson in 1958;^[18] they divorced in 1963.^{[citation needed]}

During the 1960s, she attempted to become a Christian missionary in Africa, but was rejected for having had a divorce. Over the next few years she worked for various Christian organizations before settling in Nashville in 1963. She worked full time for Rev. Billy Graham.^[4][6]

She briefly remarried Billy Neal, her first husband, who helped her to gain entrance into missionary work; however, the two divorced again shortly thereafter.^{[citation needed]} She returned to Florida in 1967, and married again, to Harry Lear,^[19] but this marriage also ended in divorce in 1972.^{[citation needed]}

She moved to Southern California in 1979.^[6] There she had a nervous breakdown and had an altercation with her landlady. The doctors that examined her diagnosed her with acute schizophrenia, and she spent 20 months in a state mental hospital in San Bernardino, California. After a fight with another landlord she was arrested for assault, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity and placed under state supervision for eight years.^[6] She was released in 1992^[8] from Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino County.

A cult following was built around her during the 1980s, of which she was unaware. This renewed attention was focused on her pinup and lingerie modeling rather than those depicting sexual fetishes or bondage, and she gained a certain public redemption and popular status as an icon of erotica from a bygone era. This attention also raised the question among her new fans of what happened to her after the 1950s. The 1990s edition of the popular Book of Lists^[20] included Page in a list of once-famous celebrities who had seemingly vanished from the public eye.

Revival[link]

In 1976, Eros Publishing Co. published A Nostalgic Look at Bettie Page, a mixture of photos from the 1950s. Between 1978 and 1980, Belier Press published four volumes of Betty Page: Private Peeks, reprinting pictures from the private camera club sessions, which reintroduced Page to a new but small cult following.^[21] In 1983, London Enterprises released In Praise of Bettie Page — A Nostalgic Collector's Item, reprinting camera club photos and an old cat fight photo shoot.

In the early 1980s, comic book artist Dave Stevens based the female love interest of his hero Cliff Secord (alias "The Rocketeer") on Page.^[22] In 1987, Greg Theakston started a fanzine called The Betty Pages^[21] and recounted tales of her life, particularly the camera club days. For the next seven years, the magazine sparked a worldwide interest in Page. Women dyed their hair and cut it into bangs in an attempt to emulate the "Dark Angel".^{[citation needed]} The media caught wind of the phenomenon and wrote numerous articles about her, more often than not with Theakston's help. Since almost all of her photos were in the public domain, opportunists launched related products and cashed in on the burgeoning craze.

In a 1993 telephone interview with Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Page told host Robin Leach that she had been unaware of the resurgence of her popularity, stating that she was "penniless and infamous". Entertainment Tonight produced a segment on her. Page, who was living in a group home in Los Angeles, was astounded when she saw the E.T. piece, having had no idea that she had suddenly become famous again. Greg Theakston contacted her and extensively interviewed her for The Betty Page Annuals V.2.

Shortly after, Page signed with Chicago-based agent James Swanson. Three years later, nearly penniless and failing to receive any royalties, Page fired Swanson and signed with Curtis Management Group, a company which also represented the James Dean and Marilyn Monroe estates. She then began collecting payments which ensured her financial security.

After Jim Silke made a large format comic featuring her likeness, Dark Horse Comics published a comic based on her fictional adventures in the 1990s. Eros Comics published several Bettie Page titles, the most popular being the tongue-in-cheek Tor Love Bettie which suggested a romance between Page and wrestler-turned-Ed Wood film actor, Tor Johnson.

The question of what Page did in the obscure years after modeling was answered in part with the publication of an official biography in 1996, Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-up Legend.^[23] That year, Bettie Page granted an exclusive one-on-one TV interview to entertainment reporter Tim Estiloz for a short-lived NBC morning magazine program Real Life to help publicize the book. The interview featured her reminiscing about her career and relating anecdotes about her personal life, as well as photos from her personal collection. At Page's request, her face was not shown. The interview was broadcast only once.

Another biography, The Real Bettie Page: The Truth about the Queen of Pinups^[24] written by Richard Foster and published in 1997, told a less happy tale. Foster's book immediately provoked attacks from her fans, including Hefner and Harlan Ellison, as well as a statement from Page that it was "full of lies," because they were not pleased that the book revealed a Los Angeles County Sheriff's police report that stated that she suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and, at age 56, had stabbed her elderly landlords on the afternoon of April 19, 1979 in an unprovoked attack during a fit of insanity.^[25] However, Steve Brewster, founder of The Bettie Scouts of America fan club, has stated that it is not as unsympathetic as the book's reputation makes it to be. Brewster adds that he also read the chapter about her business dealings with Swanson, and stated that Page was pleased with that part of her story.

In 1997, E! True Hollywood Story aired a feature on Page entitled, Bettie Page: From Pinup to Sex Queen.^[26]

In a late-1990s interview, Page stated she would not allow any current pictures of her to be shown because of concerns about her weight. However, in 1997, Page changed her mind and agreed to a rare television interview for the aforementioned E! True Hollywood Story/Page special on the condition that the location of the interview and her face not be revealed (she was shown with her face and dress electronically blacked out). In 2003, Page allowed a publicity picture to be taken of her for the August 2003 edition of Playboy. In 2006, the Los Angeles Times ran an article headlined A Golden Age for a Pinup, covering an autographing session at her current publicity company, CMG Worldwide. Once again, she declined to be photographed, saying that she would rather be remembered as she was.

In a 1998 interview with Playboy, she commented on her career:

I never thought it was shameful. I felt normal. It's just that it was much better than pounding a typewriter eight hours a day, which gets monotonous.

Within the last few years, she had hired a law firm to help her recoup some of the profits being made with her likeness. According to MTV: "Katy Perry's rocker bangs and throwback skimpy jumpers. Madonna's Sex book and fascination with bondage gear. Rihanna's obsession with all things leather, lace and second-skin binding. Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. The SuicideGirls Web site. The Pussycat Dolls. The entire career of Marilyn Manson's ex-wife Dita Von Teese" would not have been possible without Page.^[27] Many rockabilly and gothic girls emulate Bettie's hairstyle with the black blunt bangs. You can see Bettie's hairstyle and timeless facial features emulated in many modern pin-up models, such as Bernie Dexter and Masuimi Max.^[28]

In 2011, her estate made the Forbes annual list of top-earning dead celebrities, earning $6 million and tied with the estates of George Harrison and Andy Warhol, at 13th on the list.^[29]

Death[link]

Bettie Page's grave

According to long-time friend and business agent Mark Roesler, on December 6, 2008, Bettie Page was hospitalized in critical condition.^[6] Roesler was quoted by the Associated Press as saying Page had suffered a heart attack^[6] and by Los Angeles television station KNBC as claiming Page was suffering from pneumonia.^[30] A family friend said Page was in a coma, a claim not denied by Roesler.^[6] Her family eventually agreed to discontinue life support, and she died at 18:41 PST on December 11, 2008.^[4][7]

She is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. Her headstone lists her name as "Bettie Mae Page" and includes the legend "Queen of Pin-Ups".^[31]

Films[link]

Filmography[link]

• Striporama (1953)
• Varietease (1954)
• Teaserama (1955)
• Irving Klaw Bondage Classics, Volume I (London Enterprises, 1984)
• Irving Klaw Bondage Classics, Volume II (London Enterprises, 1984)
• Bettie Page: Pin Up Queen (Cult Epics, 2005)
• Bettie Page: Bondage Queen (Cult Epics, 2005)
• 100 Girls by Bunny Yeager (Cult Epics, 2005)
• Bizarro Sex Loops, Volume 4 (Something Weird Video, 2007)
• Bizarro Sex Loops, Volume 20 (Something Weird Video, 2008)

DVDs[link]

Most, if not all, of Page's existing films have been reissued on DVD, such as Bettie Page: Varietease/Teaserama, as well as a collection of five shorts called Betty Page in Bondage. In 1984, London Enterprises, a producer of S&M films, added music and narration to 28 of Klaw's silent fetish movies for the two-volume video Irving Klaw Bondage Classics. Page appears in half of these featurettes. In 2005, both volumes were released on a single DVD by Cult Epics as Bettie Page: Bondage Queen.

A compilation of her burlesque dancing performances from Striporama, Varietease, and Teaserama plus The Exotic Dances of Bettie Page (13 black-and-white dancing and cat-fight shorts) are on the Cult Epics DVD release Bettie Page: Pin Up Queen.

The DVD 100 Girls by Bunny Yeager (also by Cult Epics) is a documentary with behind-the-scenes footage on Yeager's photo sessions with Page and other pin-up models. Page also appears in another set of Irving Klaw bondage reels in Bizarro Sex Loops, Volume 20, a collection of vintage fetish shorts produced by Something Weird Video.

Biopics[link]

In 2004, Cult Epics produced the biographical film Bettie Page: Dark Angel. This low-budget straight-to-disc biopic centers on the 1953–1957 Irving Klaw period, faithfully recreating six lost fetish films she did for Klaw. Model Paige Richards plays the title role.

Another biographical movie, The Notorious Bettie Page (2005), follows her life from the mid-1930s through the late-1950s. It stars actress Gretchen Mol as the adult Page. Bonus footage added to the DVD release includes rare color film from the 1950s of Page playfully undressing and striking various nude poses for the camera.

Academy Award nominated director Mark Mori is scheduled to release the official authorized documentary biography, Bettie Page Reveals All in 2012. After more than 10 years of working with Bettie Page, Mori's film provides a unique look into her life. The film contains exclusive interviews with Bettie Page and important figures in her life and career, such as Hugh Hefner.

Guitars[link]

In 2006, Page and Halo Guitars collaborated to produce a limited edition of custom guitars, released at the 2007 Winter NAMM show in southern California. The total run of one hundred guitars were hand-made and designed by luthier Waylon Ford, art was designed by Pamelina H. and the only collector guitar series authorized by Bettie Page.^[32]

In popular culture[link]

• In one of his numerous fictional back-page biographical sketches, Harlan Ellison claimed to be "writing a biography of Bettie Page for young adults".^[33]
• Alternative country band BR5-49 recorded an ode to Page named "Bettie, Bettie" on their 1996 debut EP Live From Robert's. In interviews, Page stated that this was her favorite of the songs written about her.^[34]
• The Jazz Butcher included the song "Just Like Betty Page" on the 1984 album, A Scandal in Bohemia, using Page for a simile in the chorus "You have me/As far as I can see/roped and trussed just like dear Betty Page."^[35]
• The BD-3000 luxury droid in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was inspired by Bettie Page.^[36]
• Beyoncé Knowles pays homage to Bettie Page in her music video for "Video Phone".^[37]
• Swedish concept band DC-Pöbeln (a.k.a. Dagcenterpöbeln) from Örebro put Bettie Page on the cover of their only record Bettan/Dödgrävaren in 1985.^[38]
• In Quentin Tarantino's film Death Proof, Rosario Dawson pays homage to Page with her trademark haircut.^[39]
• In Seattle, Washington, a homeowner became the subject of a short-lived controversy when he had an artist friend paint a large mural of Page on the side of his home. The mural is visible from Interstate 5, just south of the 65th Street exit.^[40]
• In Suda51's upcoming video game "Lollipop Chainsaw," a pre-order downloadable outfit takes inspiration from Bettie Page as a pinup girl outfit, and includes her signature haircut with bangs. ^[41]

See also[link]

Biography portal

• Pin-up girl
• Pornography

References[link]

Notes