Items of Interest in Seed – April 2022 1 | Page

USDA Seed Regulatory and Testing Division

Spring 2022

EDITOR’S NOTES

Spring is here and so is a new edition of the Items 

of Interest in Seed! The Seed Regulatory and 

Testing Division’s (SRTD) Trueness-to-Variety 

trials have been planted in the field for spring. 

Agronomist Laura Berrios-Ortiz wrote about her 

observations of last year’s eggplant trials.

Also in this edition, Seed Marketing Specialist Chi 

Trinh describes how different varieties should be 

labeled. Finally, Botanist Charlene Burton wrote 

an article on the differences between tall fescue 

and meadow fescue and how to identify them in 

grass mixtures. 

On behalf of the SRTD staff, I hope you enjoy 

these articles and continue to find them 

informative. 

Elizabeth Stewart, IOI Editor 

RECENT AND UPCOMING ACTIVITIES 

SRTD’S VISIT TO TENNESSEE ENHANCES 

COOPERATIVE SEED ACT AGREEMENTS: On 

March 16, 2022, S&T Deputy Administrator 

Ruihong Guo and SRTD director Ernest 

Allen met with the Tennessee Department of 

Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher 

and Deputy Commissioner Jeff Atkins to 

discuss Tennessee cooperative activities 

with AMS. The meeting was extremely 

productive with constructive discussions 

covering the agricultural economy in

Tennessee, invasive noxious weed seeds, 

seed testing, and State and Federal seed 

regulatory processes. The meeting 

concluded with an agreement to strengthen 

the Tennessee seed market by increasing 

Federal Seed Act monitoring throughout the 

State. 

SRTD ACCREDITED SEED PROGRAM 

UPDATES: This year, SRTD accredited new 

seed laboratories for the USDA Process 

Verified Program. To accommodate the 

added laboratories, Botanist Anitra Walker 

completed ISO Lead Auditor training and will 

now be able to audit for the program. 

UPCOMING MEETINGS FOR SRTD: 

 - On June 7th, an SRTD representative 

will attend the AOSA/SCST Annual Meeting 

in Skokie, IL. The two organizations develop 

rules and procedures for seed testing and 

help standardize their interpretation. SRTD 

works closely with AOSA to ensure that the 

Federal Seed Act is applied uniformly in 

interstate seed shipments. 

ITEMS OF INTEREST IN SEED
Items of Interest in Seed – April 2022 2 | Page

- On June 13th, an SRTD 

representative will attend the OECD Seed 

Schemes Annual Meeting in Tallinn, Estonia. 

The OECD Seed Schemes facilitates the 

trade of certified seed between nations by 

developing technical standards required by 

participating nations. USDA AMS serves as 

the voting representative for the U.S. 

government and seed industry at the annual 

meeting.

TRUENESS-TO-VARIETY EGGPLANT 

VARIATIONS 

The principles of variety selection began when 

people first chose to save seeds from plants with 

desired traits. Today, variety choices in agriculture 

are numerous, with selected characteristics that 

benefit farmers and consumers. 

Trueness-To-Variety (TTV) field testing is 

conducted to determine if seed lots are properly 

labeled with the correct variety, which is required 

by the Federal Seed Act and State seed laws. The 

primary focus of this testing is to identify seed lots 

which bear the wrong variety name on the label, 

or which have significant levels of off-type plants 

within the lot. 

Occasionally, there is a curious occurrence

noticed in TTV testing; spontaneous trait variation 

can occur in some plant varieties. These random 

occurrences can be seen in the field. 

Charles Darwin noted in The Origin of Species

that spontaneous mutations occur more often in 

cultivated plants than in wild plants. He referred to 

them as sporting plants. Darwin wrote how 

cultivated varieties will suddenly show a different 

trait, such as a different flower color, or a different

single grain size. He attributed this phenomenon 

to environmental factors, such as light and 

temperature, but did not consider genetic factors. 

However, a 2016 study found that spontaneous 

mutations in the eggplant variety Black Beauty 

may be a hereditary gene (Gisberth et al., 2016). 

Black Beauty is an eggplant variety characterized 

by its deep purple color (Ells, 2020). The mutation 

causes a lack of anthocyanin, which is the pigment 

in eggplant that gives it a purple color. 

During SRTD’s 2021 TTV trials, this rare mutation

was observed. One plant out of 49 Black Beauty 

plants lacked anthocyanin and produced a green 

fruit. SRTD determined that while the plant lacked 

the purple color it was still true to the variety and 

the lot was correctly labeled. 

In TTV testing, the possibility of environmental or 

genetic factors that could affect the character traits 

of a variety are always considered. 

Article was written by Agronomist Laura Berrios-Ortiz. 

For more information regarding this article, contact 

Seed Laboratory Supervisor Todd Erickson 

(704) 810-8877; todd.erickson@usda.gov. 
Items of Interest in Seed – April 2022 3 | Page

References:

• Ells, J.E. revised by Newman, S. (2020) 

Gardening Series Fruits and Vegetables: 

Peppers and Eggplant Fact Sheet 

7.616. Colorado State University Extension

• Gisberth, C., Dumm J.M., Prohens J., 

Vilanova S., Stommel J.R. (2016). A 

Spontaneous Eggplant (Solanum melongena 

L.) Color Mutant Conditions Anthocyanin-free 

Fruit Pigmentation. American Society for 

Horticulture Science, 51(7). 

VARIETY LABELING UNDER THE 

FEDERAL SEED ACT

Every year, new varieties of agricultural and 

vegetable seed are released into the U.S. 

marketplace. The Federal Seed Act (FSA) 

regulates agricultural and vegetable seeds 

shipped in interstate commerce. 

What is a variety? 

FSA section 101(a) (12) defines the term “variety” 

as a subdivision of a kind characterized by growth, 

plant, fruit, seed, or other characters by which it 

can be differentiated from other varieties of the 

same kind. 

How should a variety be labeled under the FSA 

requirements?

Since a variety is unique to the kind of seed, it shall 

be considered as an individual component when it 

is on a label. According to FSA section 201(a)(1), 

any variety of agricultural seed consisting of more 

than five percent of the total percentage by weight 

will be included on the label. If any one kind or 

variety of seed present in excess of five percent is 

“hybrid” seed, it shall be designated “hybrid” on 

the label. 

FSA section 201(b) addresses vegetable seeds 

which are required to be labeled with a variety

name. If two or more varieties are present, the 

label needs to show the percentage of each 

variety. If one or more kinds or varieties named 

on the label are “hybrid” seed, it shall be so 

designated on the label. 

For more information regarding this article, contact 

Seed Marketing Specialist Lan Chi Trinh, 

(704) 810-7272; Lan-ChiN.Trinh@usda.gov

THE IDENTIFICATION OF TALL 

FESCUE VERSUS MEADOW FESCUE

Undesirable grass seeds are restricted noxiousweed seeds when found in lawn, turf grass, and 

mixtures of these kinds. The States of Delaware, 

Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, 

Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia have 

designated 10 undesirable grass seeds. Two of 

these seeds, tall fescue and meadow fescue, can 

be difficult to identify when found together. 

Festuca arundinacea (tall fescue):

• Shape: widest below the middle

• Lemma: coarse and granular; short stiff 

hairs on nerves, margins, and over entire 

surface

• Palea: course and granular

• Awn: usually present

• Color: dark tan

• Rachilla: round and slender
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Festuca pratensis (meadow fescue): 

• Shape: widest through the middle

• Lemma: smooth as if glazed; occasional 

short hairs in center nerve near apex (top)

• Palea: smooth and lustrous 

• Awn: mostly lacking

• Color: light to dark tan

• Rachilla: stout and flattened; somewhat 

rounded

Characteristics of both species:

• Shape: broadly elliptic

• Palea: hairs on keels, short, fine, and 

closely spaced

• Rachilla: stands away from palea

• Callus: wide vertically; thick 

Notice the difference in the lemma and palea. The 

lemma and palea of the tall fescue are coarse and 

granular. The meadow fescue lemma and palea 

are smooth and lustrous. The lemma of the tall 

fescue can have short stiff hairs on the nerves, 

margins, or over the entire surface. Both tall 

fescue and meadow fescue have hairs on the 

keels of the palea.

There is also a difference in the rachilla. The 

rachilla of the tall fescue is round and slender 

compared to the rachilla of the meadow fescue 

which is somewhat rounded but mostly stout and 

flattened. In both seeds the rachilla stands away 

from the palea.

These characteristics will help the analyst to 

identify each species when found as a 

contaminant in lawn and turf grass or mixtures of 

these kinds.

For more information regarding this article, 

contact Botanist Charlene Burton 

(704) 810-8880; charlene.burton@usda.gov
Items of Interest in Seed – April 2022 5 | Page

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 

• Association of Official Seed Analysts/ Society of 

Commercial Seed Technologist (AOSA/ SCST) 

Annual Meeting – Skokie, IL 

June 4-9, 2022

• Organization for Economic Cooperation and 

Development (OECD) Seed Schemes Annual 

Meeting – Tallinn, Estonia 

June 13-17, 2022

• Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies 

(AOSCA) Annual Meeting – Wenatchee, WA

June 19-22, 2022

• AASCO Annual Meeting –Geneva, NY 

July 11-15, 2022

• SRTD Seed School – Gastonia, NC 

August 15-17, 2022

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