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People Are Getting Random Chinese Seeds in the Mail That They Didn’t Order

Photo credit: Twitter @CynthVonBuhler
Photo credit: Twitter @CynthVonBuhler

From Popular Mechanics


Some Americans are randomly being sent mysterious envelopes full of unlabeled seeds from China. Naturally, people are confused.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has publicly asked people not to plant the seeds, and to instead send them to the USDA for testing by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

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Most seeds that have been shared online look like dry citrus seeds, whose biggest threat seems to be breaking your heart because you live somewhere other than Florida or California. But could these mailings indicate some big biowarfare strike?

Well, probably not. Scientific American reports that APHIS has confirmed it’s found extremely normal stuff:

“Last week an official at the Plant Protection and Quarantine program at the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said that so far the agency has ‘identified 14 different species of seeds, including mustard, cabbage, morning glory and some of the herbs—like mint, sage, rosemary, lavender—and other seeds, like hibiscus and roses.’”

The worst you’ll get up to with most of those is a wicked cup of herbal tea.

Although federal departments have prudently asked people to wrap and submit the seeds to them for inspection, even Fox News reports the mailings are likely part of a kind of scam called brushing. By mailing items as though they were ordered by U.S. consumers to be delivered to U.S. mailing addresses, distributors can make fraudulent “verified reviews” of their own products.

The fact that many of the documented seed envelopes were categorized as “jewelry” points to this being the case. A manufacturer of low-cost jewelry can make it look like people love their products, and in an X-ray or some other kind of inspection, it might just look like beads or something in there.

In the Better Business Bureau’s updated description of brushing, it explains why seeds make sense: “Often, the items received are lightweight and inexpensive to ship, such as ping pong balls.”

Scientific American spoke with an invasion biologist, who said the USDA is likely identifying seeds by sight at first, followed by a genetic analysis. Most Americans probably don’t have experience with seeds except as the nuisances they remove from fruits and vegetables, since most of us live in cities or towns. And one 2018 survey of people between 18 and 64 found that just 29 percent of people between the ages of 50 and 64 had gardened in the last year, and the percentages fell to 21 percent of people ages 30 to 49 and just 11 percent of people 18 to 29.

Those with yet-untapped seed potential might not know how robust the skill of seed identification is. The national agricultural youth organization 4-H (which has been scrutinized for systemic racism in many states this year) offers a seed judging competition where students must identify dozens of different seeds by type, including native wild plants, weeds, and crop plants.

Experts who study seeds can take examinations to be certified as seed analysts or technologists. And the International Seed Morphology Association offers a robust online tool with fact sheets, images, seed family information, and more to help seed sleuths identify even the most unusual-looking backyard seeds.

But don’t worry: It’s likely the only invasive species in these envelopes is one that targets Amazon or Etsy.

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