Dispersal of Seeds by Force Some plants provide their fruits (seedpods) with a mechanism that ejects the seeds

from the pod by force.

Broom

Eurphorbia

Geranium

There are several methods plants use to fling their seeds out of the seedpod. All of them rely on the effect of evaporation of water in the seedpod, so this method of seed dispersal usually takes place in the sun. It is one of the favourite methods used by members of the Papilionaceae (formerly Leguminosae). If you walk over heathland near Gorse bushes on a hot sunny day, you can hear the explosions of the seedpods as they burst open and send their seeds out. Lupins, too, have a similar system. The side of the seedpod facing the sun dries out more quickly than the side in the shade, causing the pod to buckle and pop open. The seedpods then curl up like animal horns, sending the seeds flying. Geraniums also use the heat of the sun to shoot their seeds from the pods. The seeds are in a ring at the base of the style, each one with its own cover which is attached to the tip of the style by a thin woody strip. When the seeds are ripe, the seed covers split apart, and the strip rips up the style but is stopped suddenly because the strip remains attached to the style. The seeds are catapulted out at high speed. Oxalis seeds are covered by an elastic coating. When this dries out, it splits suddenly, shooting the individual seeds out of the pod. Euphorbia is another plant whose seedpods crack open with a loud explosion. When the three joints in the seedpod dry out, they split open suddenly, and the seeds are shot out. Ceanothus berries also operate this system when the fleshy outer covering has dried out. Plants that disperse their seeds by this method include:

Viola

Ceanothus

Oxalis

Lupin

Erodium

Lathyrus

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Dispersal of Seeds by the Wind Wind is one of the main agencies of seed dispersal. The way it transports them depends on the type of seed and where it grows. Seeds that can fly or glide

Hornbeam

Sycamore

Ash

Some tall trees produce seeds with stiff wings covering the seed that enable them to fly long distances. The wings are twisted and balanced so that the seed spins around as it is carried along by the wind. These natural adaptations for using the wind to transport the weight of the seed must be technically accurate, as the wings of modern planes and helicopters are designed in the same way. These wings usually support one seed each, but may start off as a two-winged pod that later splits in two to release the seeds. Some seeds have only one wing (e.g. Lime or Ash). This type of attachment is quite heavy, and this system only works well in a good wind, and from a tall tree. Sometimes seeds have thin wings as an extension of the seed that enable them to glide in the wind. They don't need so much wind as the seeds that fly, but they are not so heavy. The largest of this type of seed is 6" across, from a climber called Alsomitra growing in the tropical forests of Asia. Some seeds have long, feathery tails which help them to fly, like the tail of a kite. Examples of seeds spread by the use of wings and tails are:

Puya

Tecoma

Embothrium

Pandorea

Pulsatilla

Clematis

Seeds that drift in the wind Seeds that have almost weightless additions that enable them to be carried long distances by the slightest breeze are familiar all over the world.

Willow Herb

Bulrush

Dandelion

These are more flimsy additions to seeds which help them to be transported long distances by the wind. These additional features are usually various sorts of fluff which are almost weightless but increase the volume of the seed, so that it can be picked up by the slightest breeze and carried over long distances. Sometimes, the seed is attached to fine hairs which open out when the seed is shed to form a ball. Thistles produce seeds with this type of fluff, and thistledown is often seen blowing across motorways on its journey to colonise new sites. Many members of the Daisy family provide their seeds with a flat disk of fine hairs to produce a parachute to keep the seed aloft. Bulrushes produce many millions of dust-like seeds, each of which has its own tuft of fluff to give it a bigger area to be caught by the wind. Examples of seeds spread by this method are:

Amberboa

Thistle

Liatris

Felicia

Fleabane

Dandelion

Seeds that are released from their pod by the wind Many more plants just need the wind to bend their stalks so that the seeds spill out of the seed pod.

Columbine

Poppy

Evening Primrose

Some seed pods face downwards, but very many have their opening at the top, and these need the wind to bend their stalks enough to allow the seeds to fall out. This often means that the seeds will not fall directly under the parent plant, because the stalk holding the seedpod is bent at an angle, so the seeds fall a little way from the parent. Very many popular garden plants and wildflowers, too, scatter their seeds this way, so it must be an efficient method of spreading seeds. Some seeds dispersed by this method are:

Agrostemma Nemophila

Dianthus

Nigella

Calceolaria

Lilium

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Dispersal of Seeds by Animals Animals of all sorts and sizes help plants to disperse their seeds. The method they use depends on the type of seed. Seeds with attractive fruit or seeds To attract the animals and birds and encourage them to act as seed carriers, plants often surround their seeds with a brightly-coloured and sweet-tasting pulp.

Raspberry

Sea Grape

Bilberry

In the deserts of North Africa, elephants eat the fruits that have fallen from the trees and deposit the seeds in their droppings several miles away. In South American jungles, monkeys eat figs and other fruit, carrying some away in their stomachs and dropping others onto the ground. In Britain, foxes eat raspberries, squirrels eat nuts, blackbirds eat our strawberries, mice eat grass seeds, and in South Africa, even ants carry seeds into their nests, eat the tasty outer covering and leave the seeds to grow safely underground. As well as eating them, some animals collect the fruits or seeds and bury them to eat later, but forget about them and the seeds germinate in their new location. Sometimes, as in the case of Mistletoe, the seeds are covered in a sticky slime which the birds rub off on a new tree. Even humans carry seeds far away for plants - by taking an apple on a picnic, for example, and throwing the core, with its seeds, into the bushes. Examples of seeds spread by this method include:

Date

Monstera

Tamarind

Lablab

Diospiros

Sunflower

Seeds with clinging hooks or spines When animals take fruits or seeds for food, they act as willing transporters of the plant's seeds. Sometimes, the plants make use of animals to carry their seeds without giving them any reward.

Entelia

Lesser Burdock

Sea Holly

Many plants produce fruits or individual seeds covered in hooks or spines which attach the seed to the animals's fur or feathers - or, in the case of humans, to our clothes or bags. The seeds are then carried a sufficient distance from the parent plant to give them space to grow. Eventually, the seed may fall off, or be rubbed off by the animal. The most well-known plant of this type that we have in the UK is probably Goose Grass or Sticky Weed, which children throw at one another in a game, but in other countries there are larger such hitch-hikers which can damage animals when they become lodged between the animal's toes and cause infection and lameness. There's more information about species in North and South America that produce large hooked or prickly seedpods here.

Examples of seeds spread by this method include:

Rambutan

Bixa

Trollius

Cynoglossum Orlaya

Eryngium

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Dispersal of Seeds by Water

Some plants make use of water to disperse their seeds.

Brooklime

Yellow Water Lily

Mangrove

Although seeds of plants that grow in water are obviously spread by water, there are many other ways in which water plays a part in dispersing seeds. Plants which grow beside water often rely on water to transport their seeds for them. They may produce light seeds which float, or there may be fluff that helps buoyancy. Two tall trees, Willow and Silver Birch, are often found in the middle of moorland, far from any other trees, but along the course of a stream. They can colonise such isolated places because they both have very small, light seeds, which can be carried by the wind or by water. Foxgloves and Harebells often grow beside streams. They both have light seed that floats. Trees found on tropical beaches often have their seeds carried there by the sea. They have woody, waterproof coverings which enable them to float in the salty water for long periods. Coconuts are well-known travellers, as is the famous Coco-de-mer, found only on the Seychelles, but familiar before its origin was known from the giant seeds washed up on other tropical beaches. Mangroves are another familiar tree of tropical beaches. Their seeds are unusual in that they can begin germination while still on the parent plant, and they drop into the ocean when about a foot long. These 'sticks' float upright in the sea, waiting to be flung onto the beach to continue germinating. Seeds of some tropical trees can even be carried along by ocean currents to land on shores half a world away. Sometimes Sea Beans, the seeds of Entada gigas, are carried from their homes beside rivers in Africa, Australia or South America, across the ocean to land on European shores.

Seeds spread by this method include:

Yellow Flag

Water Mint

Foxglove

Willow

Coconut

Sea Bean

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