2 October 2025
4 min read
Quiz: Which seed are you?
Are you a roaming dandelion seed, a friendly acorn, a delicious cocoa bean or a fire-loving giant redwood seed?
Plants can produce an amazing variety of seeds, all perfectly adapted to their lifestyles - but which one are you most like?
We study and store all kinds of seeds at the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst, from tiny seeds that float on the wind to amazing seeds that can only germinate after a fire. 2025 marks 25 years of banking seeds for future generations at the MSB.
Take our multiple-choice quiz to find out what kind of seed is the most like you! Remember to note your answers to see if you answered mostly As, Bs, Cs or Ds.
1. Where would you rather spend a day?
a) The Amazon rainforest
b) An English meadow
c) An exciting new city
d) A mountain forest in California
2. What do you like doing in your spare time?
a) Making delicious desserts
b) Feeding birds and wildlife
c) Travelling
d) Extreme sports: the scarier, the better
3. Are you good in an emergency?
a) I’m good at comforting people afterwards
b) I'm always there for my friends
c) I can tough it out through anything
d) I’m at my best when the heat is on
Adopt a seed
Join us in our mission to provide a safe home to some of the world's most threatened plants. Your adoption will directly support the work of Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank.
4. How do other people see you?
a) Everyone loves me, as they should
b) I've got my friends' backs and they've got mine
c) I can fit in anywhere
d) It’s hard to get to know me but it’s worth it
5. What do you hate the most?
a) Cold weather
b) Pigs
c) Being stuck at home
d) Big crowds
6. How would you describe your style?
a) I love a bright yellow jacket
b) Always wear a hat
c) Floaty and wispy
d) Functional beige
Now look at your answers. What did you get?
You're a cacao seed (Theobroma cacao)
Everyone is a little obsessed with you. Also known as a cocoa bean, this seed is the source of chocolate!
The Aztecs used cocoa beans as money and the Latin name Theobroma means “food of the gods”. Cacao seeds are found inside a sweet golden yellow fruit and they’re native to the tropical Amazon. To make chocolate, they go through a complex process of drying, fermenting, roasting and grinding before they’re mixed with cocoa butter and sugar.
You can see cacao trees at Kew Gardens in the Princess of Wales Conservatory and the Palm House.
You're an acorn (Quercus robur)
You’re a reliable friend to everyone.
Acorns are nuts which contain the seedlings of the oak tree. Common oaks grow all over the UK and their acorns feed birds and wildlife in autumn and winter. Acorns are poisonous to cows and horses, but not to pigs, which can eat thousands of them.
An icon of nourishment and strength, acorns need a little help from their friends, too. They have the best chance of growing into oak trees when they are buried by Eurasian jays in a blackberry bush, where the thorns will protect the sapling as it grows.
You can see oak trees at Kew Gardens in our Arboretum and across the landscape at Wakehurst.
You're a dandelion seed (Taraxacum officinale)
You’re a travel junkie who can thrive anywhere.
Free as a bird, dandelion seeds have parachute-like structures called pappi to help them float away on the wind. They can take root almost anywhere, surviving urban pollution, cold winters and hot summers. They’re often dismissed as a weed, but dandelions are native to the UK and Europe and they’re a great source of food for native bees and other insects.
You can see dandelions on lawns and grasslands across Wakehurst and Kew Gardens.
You're a giant redwood seed (Sequoiadendron giganteum)
You're the best person to have around in an emergency: in fact, you thrive in a crisis.
Also known as giant sequoias, these massive conifers are “pyrophilic”, which means they need fire to reproduce. Fire opens the redwood’s cones and releases the seeds; it also swiftly clears competing plants from the forest floor and leaves a layer of nutritious ash, giving the seeds the best chance to grow.
These tiny, light brown seeds grow into the largest trees in the world and can live for more than 3,000 years.
Although regular fires are important for giant redwoods, they can't survive if fires become too intense. The giant redwood is now endangered due to intensifying forest fires and over-exploitation in the past.
We're storing giant redwood seeds in the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst to research and protect the species for the future. You can adopt a giant redwood seed for yourself or a loved one and support our scientific work combating biodiversity loss and climate change.
Find giant redwoods at Kew Gardens in the Redwood Grove in our Arboretum.
At Wakehurst, find them at Horsebridge Wood. Every year, we light up a 37m redwood next to the Mansion to create one of the tallest living Christmas trees in the UK.
Read & watch
.jpgfa88.webp?itok=STOrmosg "Millennium Seed Bank ©RBG Kew")
