MANY people wonder what the difference is between a fruit and a seed.

Imagine that you receive a parcel. It is wrapped up to protect it. This is the fruit. Inside is the delicate present which the sender does not want to be damaged. This is the seed.

Look at a blackberry or a plum. This is the fruit. Inside are the seeds. In the case of the plum there is even more protection as the stone protects the embryo of the plant.

Look at a hazel nut. The shell protects the kernel inside. This is the young plant, along with enough food to sustain it while it is germinating. It is just 30 years since I first started writing about nature in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

Our first competition involved schools. They were invited to send in collections of fruits and seeds. We were not prepared for more than 80 entries, some of which were very large indeed.

It was the children's response which led to other readers sending in sightings and which has now developed into the Nature Spy section. These records have all been kept and so we have an archive of sightings dating back 30 years.

As a sort of 30-year birthday event I would like youngsters to collect fruits and seeds.

Cameras are much better these days and so a snap shot of the collection is better than decorating the Evening Telegraph offices to look like a mammoth Christmas tree.

Write your name and address on the back of the photograph or photographs and send them to Nature Watch at the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

The three best entries will be published in a future column and each will also receive a book on natural history.

Over the next month there will be lots of colourful fruits and seeds. Already rowan and guelder rose are in full fruit, so pick a nice day and get snapping.

Your photographs should reach us by October 5 and the winners will be announced in Nature Watch on October 24.