Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
30 Times People Encountered ‘Vivipary’ In Plants And Just Had To Share These Terrifying Pics
If you've ever eaten a freshly grown tomato from a local farmers market, you know how anomalous and quirky natural plants can look. But this time, we’re taking the oddness of Mother Nature to a whole new level.
Please meet the aliens of the plant kingdom that resemble little creatures you’d see in Ridley Scott’s movie. This is due to a condition known as vivipary, which basically, and now you may hold tight, refers to “live birth” in Latin. And it means precisely what it sounds like—it’s when the seeds start germinating while still attached to the mother plant.
So let’s dive into the fascinating world of vivipary in plants as compiled by Bored Panda, so we all know what gardeners' nightmares are made of, and the next time you eat your lovely salad, don't take it for granted.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Mutant! My Sunflower Has Had An Unconventional Baby
RELATED:
#2
This Tomato Sprouting Its Seeds
#3
Friend Of Mine Found An Apple With An Apple Tree Growing Out Of It
In order to find out more about this unusual phenomenon, Bored Panda spoke to David Lifton, a gardener and blogger who runs the Instagram account “Young Ground Grows.” David said that vivipary is pretty common sight for him because he has been growing his own produce on his allotment garden for eight years.
David explained that vivipary is a condition whereby the seeds of a fruit begin to sprout from inside the fruit. “Every seed contains growth hormones that are programmed to activate when the conditions are right (heat, light, humidity). And they normally do this once the fruit has dropped and has rotted away in the soil.”
However, these growth hormones can be tricked to grow prematurely in situations where fruits are left out in hot or humid weather.
#4
Sprouting Strawberries? How Can I Fix This?
Foxxy (The Original) 5 years ago
Could you plant those strawberries to create more strawberry plants?
Tracey Tait 5 years ago
It is caused by damage when runners are in cold storage and experience freezing temps. You can't fix it, you just need to start over with undamaged stock.
#5
An Avocado Tree Was Starting To Grow Inside My Avocado
Aria Whitaker 5 years ago
I...dont think I have seen anyone cut their avocados horizontally before....
#6
Noticed Something That Looked Like A Worm In My Apple. Upon Further Inspection, It Turned Out To Be The Seeds Inside Sprouting
David also said that you can eat vivipary fruits, but you need “to cut around the sprouted seeds and check there's no softness on the skin, bad odor, or signs of mold, as this would indicate the fruit is off.”
Even though vivipary-affected fruits and veggies look odd, to say the least, it turns out the condition is more common than we think. “If you grow your own pumpkins and squash and store them away for a few months, when you come to open them up, you may find the seeds have begun to sprout!”
Plus, “if you live in the western hemisphere, you'll most likely find vivipary in supermarket peppers,” David said.
#7
Forgot About This Tomato While On Vacation And It Sprouted
#8
This Strawberry's Seeds Started Sprouting While It Was Still On The Plant
#9
Vivipary (Premature Germination) Of Corn Kernels. This Condition Is Most Likely To Occur When Kernels Have Dried Down To 20% Moisture Or Less And Are Then Rewetted By Rains
Other places where you can find vivipary fruits is near the equator, “where length of day and temperatures stay consistent.” Here, David explained that “vivipary may be a far more common sight in lots of fruits,” not just sprouting tomatoes.
#10
This Bell Pepper Has Other Bell Peppers Growing Inside Of It
#11
Live Birth
#12
The Seeds In My Butternut Squash Were Sprouting On The Inside
Foxxy (The Original) 5 years ago
Just curious but is fruit and veg still safe to eat once they start sprouting?
#13
My Tomato's Seeds Have Started To Sprout From The Inside
Merili Auq 5 years ago
Yes, my tomatoes do it all the time, because I forget about them on the kitchen table for too long :D
#14
I Find These Wonders Of Nature Often On My Plate
Just as I was about to gobble up these pomegranate seeds I saw some green sticking to one of the seeds and thought it could be the coriander greens I was handling the same time I peeled the pomegranate. But it turned out to be a sprouting seed, a fine example of viviparous behaviour. I have experienced in earlier in papaya, many citrus fruits, tomatoes, cantaloupes, watermelon and even mangoes
#15
Mango Pit Began To Grow Into A Tree, While Still Inside The Mango (Full Branch Visible)
#16
How Vivipary Is Happened In The Given Picture Of Mangifera Indica, Showing Emerges Of Seedling After Germination While The Fruit Still Attached With Mother Plant Identify This Abonormality......
#17
Found A Sprouting Seed In My Tangerine
#18
A Cute Mutated Sunflower
#19
My Grapefruit Started Sprouting Inside Itself
#20
The Seeds In This Tomato Started Sprouting
#21
I May Have Left This Butternut Squash In The Field Too Long
#22
Plants Are Amazing. Also Corn Is Bae
#23
I’ll Pass On Eating This Prego Tomato
#24
Why Does This Eggplant Look So Unusual?
#25
Nature Is Amazing
#26
This Strawberries Seeds Have Started Sprouting
#27
A Tomato Growing More Tomatoes.
#28
I Just Opened This Butternut Squash And Found This Amazing Phenomena That I Never Thought I Would Ever See
M O'Connell 5 years ago
Would the sprouts themselves be edible? They look a lot like bean sprouts.
#29
The Wonders Of Plant Vivipary
#33
Thanks, I Hate Tomato On Steroids
#34
Рumpkin Seeds Started To Sprout From The Inside
#36
Tomato Sprouts Growing Inside The Tomato
#38
Never Seen A Mango Sprout Like This Before. It's Still Semi-Green Too
#39
Had A Little Stroll Around The Garden This Morning And Spotted This!
#40
In This Episode Of Nature-Is-Weird, Vivipary: Corn Kernels
#42
Pregnant Apple! Apple Tree Growing Inside The Apple!
#44
Cut A Lemon From My Yard In Half To Find The Seeds Already Sprouting
Aria Whitaker 5 years ago
Hmmm. This one looks intentionally grown....just really weird that you cut a lemon in half and "find the seeds sprouting"...but managed to somehow miss cutting any of the sprouted stems which are growing in the dead center of the lemon....
#46
Cut Open A Papaya Today And Found The Seeds Germinated From The Inside. Who Knew Papaya Had A Viviparous Nature?
#47
I’m Trying To Fight The Urge To Grow These Little Guys Out
#52
This Strawberry Seeds Started To Grow
#54
Vivipary Is When Seeds Germinate While Still Attached To The Parent Plant - As With This Pepper. Plants Are So Cool!
RaroaRaroa 5 years ago
This is not a plant sprouting. It's some kind of extra flesh on the capsicum. If it was a plant it'd be a shoot about to sprout leaves. Capcisum seedlings don't look like pieces of capsicum.
#55
We Forgot About Our Bag Of Potatoes And They Sprouted... A Lot
#56
This Discarded Watermelon That Sprouted
Add New Image
What do you think ?
YesItsMe 5 years ago
Biological fact: all fruits and veggies are ready to eat/ripe, when their seed(s) are ready. It's logical if you think that if plants need to spread. Coz it's mostly animals who eat fruits and spread them by pooping somewhere in nature, or if seed is too big to eat, then just throw it away. We do that same, mostly.. ;) Fun fact: we eat cucumber raw. It's yellow when it's ripe. :)
John Laurens/Gay Turtle 5 years ago
Thanks bp now I'll be thinking about this every time I eat fruit...
Pauline Bennett 5 years ago
This is not an uncommon sight, it only happens in plants that contain seeds. Amazing?
Roadkill The Brave 5 years ago
Plant them or eat them. If the fruit or veggie is bad the sprouts are still edible and down right delicious, well most of them.
Lana Jig-maker 5 years ago
so creeped out, and curious at the same time. goosebumps and chills.
Janelle Collard 5 years ago
How come everybody else gets the "cool" food + I just get "regular" food?
marie elle 5 years ago
But thats the purpose of the seed, or not? And the fruit is kind of furtilizer, isn't it?
Curry on... 5 years ago
I'm glad to learn about this, because I would have freaked if I'd seen it in person.
Soggy Crumpet 5 years ago
Unfortunately this is an appropriate statement. So many people on here said to plant the seedlings for these fruits/vegetables but if they were to do so, many of the plants would not yield the food that was purchased. For example, citrus seeds yield sour orange trees, etc.
Load More Replies... Wes Nishi 5 years ago
Just imagine these fruits and veggies were alive like Veggies Tales, then this would be the start to a Veggie Tales/Alien movie
YesItsMe 5 years ago
Biological fact: all fruits and veggies are ready to eat/ripe, when their seed(s) are ready. It's logical if you think that if plants need to spread. Coz it's mostly animals who eat fruits and spread them by pooping somewhere in nature, or if seed is too big to eat, then just throw it away. We do that same, mostly.. ;) Fun fact: we eat cucumber raw. It's yellow when it's ripe. :)
John Laurens/Gay Turtle 5 years ago
Thanks bp now I'll be thinking about this every time I eat fruit...
Pauline Bennett 5 years ago
This is not an uncommon sight, it only happens in plants that contain seeds. Amazing?
Roadkill The Brave 5 years ago
Plant them or eat them. If the fruit or veggie is bad the sprouts are still edible and down right delicious, well most of them.
Lana Jig-maker 5 years ago
so creeped out, and curious at the same time. goosebumps and chills.
Janelle Collard 5 years ago
How come everybody else gets the "cool" food + I just get "regular" food?
marie elle 5 years ago
But thats the purpose of the seed, or not? And the fruit is kind of furtilizer, isn't it?
Curry on... 5 years ago
I'm glad to learn about this, because I would have freaked if I'd seen it in person.
Soggy Crumpet 5 years ago
Unfortunately this is an appropriate statement. So many people on here said to plant the seedlings for these fruits/vegetables but if they were to do so, many of the plants would not yield the food that was purchased. For example, citrus seeds yield sour orange trees, etc.
Load More Replies... Wes Nishi 5 years ago
Just imagine these fruits and veggies were alive like Veggies Tales, then this would be the start to a Veggie Tales/Alien movie
Related on Bored Panda
