1. KY Seed Identification Contest Study Slides
Developed by Cameron White

2. Grasses ID

3. Kentucky Bluegrass

4. Orchard Grass
Keel shaped; lemma pointed and twisted; rachilla long and slender.

5. Tall Fescue
resembles ryegrass; no awn; broadest midways, long pointed at apex

6. Timothy
Wedge-shaped; bare seed round with thin, silvery lemma attached. Light tan

7. Redtop

8. Sudan Grass
Brown-tan; often covered by lemma and palea. Oblong; pointed at one end.

9. Grain Sorghum
Dark brown-purple; glossy black glumes. Oblong; pointed on one end.

10. Bromegrass, Smooth
Grayish-tan lemma and palea tightly adheres to brown to purple caryopsis. Flat and oblong with brodest area toward one end.

11. Ryegrass, Perennial
has an awn or remains; awn end tapers; other end wide, rounded, flared

12. Red Fescue

13. Weed ID

14. Johnson Grass
brown, light to black with gradiations, smooth and shiny

15. Ox-eye Daisy

16. Giant Foxtail

17. Curly Dock
triangular, sharp-edged, glossy red-brown seed

18. Dandelion

19. Morning Glory
black to brown; shaped like sections of an orange

20. Cheat (Chess)
elliptic, long, smooth brown; short awn

21. Ragweed

22. Small Grain ID

23. Wheat
has a “brush” on one end; a deep groove found on the ventral side

24. Oats
may vary in color from reddish to white

25. Barley
straw-colored; very chaffy; several spikelike projections

26. Rye, Winter
brown to metallic green seed, cylindrical, pointed

27. Buckwheat

28. Triticale

29. Legumes ID

30. Red Clover
mitten-shaped; color varies from yellow to brown to purple in the same sample

31. Korean Lespedeza
larger than Kobe; little or no hairs on pods; veins in pod darker; hulled seed, purplish

32. Alsike
Apple-green to greenish-black, browing with age. Nearly heart-shaped except notch slightly off center.

33. Crimson Clover
large when compared to other clovers; light tan color; oval-shaped; smooth to smooth-glossy

34. Hairy Vetch
seed size variable; smooth, dull black color

35. Alfalfa
kidney-shaped; yellowish-brown, sometimes with a green tinge

36. Soybean
variable in size and color; usually yellow, can be brown or black; smooth, hilun color will vary

37. Birdsfoot Trefoil
Olive-brown, buff, purple mottled, and purplish black. Oval.

38. Sweet Clover
Greenish-yellow (yellow blossom seed may be flecked with purple). Mitt shaped

39. Kobe Lespedeza
usually unhulled, hairy, brown pods; hulled seed, purplish

40. Sericea Lespedeza
seed usually hulled; light brown to green flecked with purple; dark reddish pod

41. Crown Vetch
Yellowish-red to reddish brown. Cylindrical rod shaped.

42. White Clover
seed small, heart-shaped; color ranges from yellow to dark brown in the same sample

43. Vegetables ID

44. Comparison of Seed Sizes

45. Popcorn
pearl-shaped

46. Carrots
ribbed with oval shap
convex backside
2 - 3 mm

47. Sweet Corn

48. Turnip
resembles cultivated varieties

49. Spinach

50. Radish

51. Cabbage

52. Tomato
flat, mostly rounded seed
rough seedcoat
2 - 3 mm

53. Squash
flat, more rounded seed
rough seedcoat
11-12 mm

54. Parsnips

55. Eggplant

56. Dill

57. Parsley

58. Peas
rounded, rough seed coat; gray to black color

59. Beans (pole & bush)

60. Cucumber
flat, narrow seed
smooth seedcoat
8 - 9 mm

61. Lettuce

62. Kale

63. Endive

64. Cantaloupe

65. Peppers
flat, mostly rounded seed
smooth seedcoat
3 mm

66. Beans (lima)

67. Other ID

68. Cotton

69. Tobacco

70. Sunflowers
flattened, brown in colour, 5 – 7 mm long. The outer seeds in the head are wingless and the inner seeds winged

71. Sugar Beets

72. Resources Seed Identification – Mississippi State Extension
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