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International Seed Testing Association
International Seed Testing Association
Richtiarkade 18
8304 Wallisellen, CH
+41 44 838 60 00
ista.office@ista.ch
International Seed Testing Association
International Seed Testing Association

Universal List of Species

The seed identification fact sheets of the Universal List of Species consist of nomenclature, images, illustrative drawings, feature descriptions and comparison, and associated botany and distribution information of the species. These factsheets are aimed to assist seed analysts to identify the seeds on the universal list.

The fact sheets are grouped by plant families and listed in alphabetical order by species names in each family or fact sheet index. This will allow the end-user to be able to find seeds that may look similar.

The ISTA project 20-2 was funded and supported by ISTA and participating organizations for the development of these fact sheets. The project was led and coordinated by the ISTA Purity Committee with members: Dr. Ruojing Wang from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canada, Deborah Meyer, retired seed botanist from California Department of Food and Agriculture, USA, and Sumaia Mahmuda from LAL TEER Seed Bangladesh.

We sincerely thank all authors, participating institutes, reviewers and the project members for their expertise, hard work and contribution. Thanks also to the ISTA Secretariat for publishing this work on the ISTA website. The seed diagnostic images and drawings have come from the sources below; all copyrights are reserved.

Commercial use is prohibited without permission from the copyright holders.

  • Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canada ©2025 His Majesty the King in Right of Canada (Canadian Food Inspection Agency), all rights reserved. Any usage must cite the source and provide credit or acknowledgement to CFIA.
  • International Seed Testing Association (ISTA), Switzerland © 2025 ISTA, Wallisellen, Switzerland, all rights reserved. Any non-commercial usage must cite the source and provide credit or acknowledgement to ISTA.
  • Images with D. J. Lionakis Meyer copyright dates (© 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025) may be freely used with recognition of the source and date.
  • Images with California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) © 2013 may be freely used with recognition of the source and date.
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