Ron Cossey of Gore said he purchased tomatoes about a week ago and noticed on Sunday, the last one in the bag was growing sprouts. “I’ve made calls everywhere about it and no one has ever seen anything like it,” Cossey said. According to Sequoyah County Extension Agent Jace Goodwin, seeds which germinate inside a tomato before birth is called “vivipary” and occurs in overripe fruit when seeds have reached maturity and the natural hormone, abscisic acid (ABA), is reduced. The seed dormancy is then lost gradually. Goodwin said tomato fruit allows vivipary since the seeds do not dry out in the moist environment inside the fruit. Goodwin said the tomato can still be eaten or even planted to reproduce more tomatoes.