Final answer:
Seeds from a seed ball are designed to remain dormant until conditions are right for germination, at which point they grow into new plants. This dormancy allows plant species to survive and spread over both space and time. The correct answer to the question is c. They make new plants.
Step-by-step explanation:
Seeds are crucial to the propagation of plant species, and understanding their role is fundamental to comprehending how plants reproduce and ensure their survival. The function of seeds from a seed ball is to ensure that the plant can spread through space and time, enduring periods of environmental stress by remaining in a dormant state. This dormancy allows seeds to survive for extended periods, sometimes even decades, until conditions are favorable for germination.
During dormancy, seeds are not active; they do not grow fluffy leaves nor do they get water from the soil. Instead, a seed contains an embryo, the nascent version of a plant, which upon germination will grow into a new plant, developing roots and leaves, and eventually producing seeds itself to continue the cycle. This process of producing new plants from seeds is fundamental to the life cycle of most plant species.
The specific strategies that plants develop to survive, such as having deep roots, reduced or specialized foliage, and seeds capable of enduring long periods of dormancy, are adaptations to environmental conditions. For example, cacti have fleshy leaves with sunken stomata to reduce water loss, and conifers like spruce, fir, and pine have needle-shaped leaves with sunken stomata for the same reason.
It is noteworthy, however, that not all plants grow from seeds. Some reproduce vegetatively, using structures like rhizomes, stolons, and runners; others may reproduce from corms, tubers, or bulbs. But, in the context of your question, the correct option is c. They make new plants, because a seed's primary function is to germinate under the right conditions and grow into a mature plant, thus continuing the species.