What does it mean when a seed is Dormant?

What does it mean when a plant seed is in a spiral?

• Hey, I was just wondering. What does it mean if you open a seed or de shell a seed and the embryo is in sort of a spiral? Does it mean the seed isn't completely developed? I've opened a few maple seeds and the green on the inside of the seed is in a spiral form like one of them roll up candies. I say if you unrolled the embryo it would look flat. So what does it mean when the embryo is in a form of a spiral? Does it mean it's not completely developed? Will the seed still sprout if you de shell it and leave nothing but the embryo? Please let me know. Thanks. Oh, to explain better. For christmas I got a grow a tree kit which was a sugar maple. Well I fallowed the directions and stratified the seeds for 4 weeks. Well I then took the shell off the seeds. Well I also removed the brown part covering the embryo and the embryo was in a sort of a spiral like a roll up. Does this mean the seed wasn't completely developed? The seeds never sprouted. But I've seed maple seeds where the green part was in one peace and wasn't a spiral. Please let me know. Thanks.

• Answer:

  Take a look at the spiral in the seeds of this sunflower http://joe-perez.com/blog/2012/01/the-sunflower-is-a-teacher/ The cells within the seed do the same thing, cell,turn,cell,turn, etc. Until the seed is produced. Then another turn,seed,turn, seed, both creating a spiral.