8 GERMINATION.CA NOVEMBER 2018 FOR YEARS, there has been a shrinking level of expertise in the area of seed morphology. Thankfully, a group of global seed industry stakeholders are coming to the rescue by forming the International Seed Morphology Association (ISMA). The initiative is being spearheaded in Canada by Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) research sci- entist Ruojing Wang (serving as ISMA secretary on the eight-member board). The board also includes Canadian members Janine Maruschak of the CFIA and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Axel Diederichsen as vice-chair. Wang is the head of the CFIA National Seed Herbarium in Saskatoon, Sask. “Plant and seed morphology are mainly used in identifying over 200,000 flowering plants and their seeds around the world. Right now, up-to-date seed morphol- ogy knowledge and identification expertise are not readily accessible and scattered among individual taxono- mists, specialists, analysts and seed testing laboratories,” she says. “Because of the diversity of plants, regional distribu- tion, and globalized trade, there is no single country that can develop a reference database for seed identification to meet the testing needs. By forming ISMA, we hope to change that.” By “we”, she means a contingent of seed specialists from around the world including Canada, the United ANEWASSOCIATIONAIMSTOSTRENGTHENA CRUCIALAREAOFEXPERTISE CSAAC / SEEDANALYSTS.CA / SEED IDENTIFICATION IS GETTING A SHOT IN THE ARM Krista Erickson, CSAAC Executive Director States and Europe, all working to advance the field of seed morphol- ogy, or seed identification. Seed identification is an area of expertise that determines the plant taxonomic identity of a seed sample such as family, genus and species. Seed identification is a highly special- ized area of plant taxonomy. Seed identification uses identification tech- niques similar to those that entomolo- gists use on insects. Seed identification provides important and critical information in seed certification and grading, and is a routine test for the enforcement of seed regulations, plant protection regulations, phytosanitary regulations and commodity labelling. ISMA’s goal is to promote research, resource development, knowledge sharing and collaboration among those who are interested in seed mor- phology and seed identification. The organization will be a sci- entific source of seed morphology knowledge and expertise, publishing Seed morphology is used in identifying over 200,000 flowering plants and their seeds around the world.