Which plant was the first to flower and produce seeds in space, during the Soviet Salyut 7 mission?

Arabidopsis thaliana was the first plant to flower and produce seeds in space, during the Soviet Salyut 7 mission.

Arabidopsis thaliana, commonly called thale cress, is a small flowering plant in the mustard family. It completed a full life cycle in orbit during the 1982 Salyut 7 mission, making it an important milestone in plant space biology. Researchers studied whether plants could grow, flower, and reproduce under microgravity conditions.

Arabidopsis became especially useful because it has a small genome, a short generation time, and abundant seeds. Those traits later made it one of the leading model organisms for studying plant genetics, development, light responses, and stress biology on Earth and in space.

The milestone is sometimes confused with earlier experiments that germinated seeds or grew seedlings in orbit. Germination alone is not a complete life cycle. Flowering and producing viable seeds demonstrated a more demanding level of plant reproduction in space.