It's common to say that trees come from seeds. But how can a tiny seed create a huge tree? Seeds do not contain the resources need to grow a tree.  These must come from the medium or environment within which the tree grows.  But the seed does provide something that is crucial : a place where the whole of the tree starts to form.  As resources such as water and nutrients are drawn in, the seed organizes the process that generates growth.  In a sense, the seed is a gateway through which the future possibility of the living tree emerges.