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Category: The back yard | Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 10:26 pm

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I was inspecting some of the houseplants that had vacationed outside during the summer and found that a seed had impaled itself in the leaf of a spider plant. This set me to thinking......plants for millions of years have developed many different ways to spread their seeds far and wide.
Seeds with sails for instance use the wind to travel great distances. Some land on fertile ground and germinate, others like the cat-o-nine tails landing on the ground is a death sentence. The seed has to land in water. The mother plant however, may send hundreds of thousands of seeds on a turbulent ride using the prevailing winds to greatly increase the odds that some will find a body of water. Birds of course, because plants produce desirable fruit and berries, spread all kinds of seeds in their droppings. Palms on tropical islands began their journey as coconuts using the ocean currents. Plants like impatiens or jewel weed send their seeds flying by the explosive action of their seed pods. Many plants have burs or spiked seeds to catch the fir of a passing animal. The animal sheds its fir, cleans themselves or brushes against another object and the seed falls to the ground. Trees such as the maple send squadrons of seeds on a helicopter ride to new locations. Even the actions of humans are not beyond assisting in the dissemination of seeds. How many times do you return the seeds of a plant back to its source. There are many other ways plants send their seeds to a new beginning. Maybe you know of another way.

.....just thinking....

Now what did I do with that seed I took out of the plant?



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