Seeds travel many ways Wind Animals Water Gliders

Seeds travel many ways • Wind • Animals • Water

Gliders • Gliders include seeds with 2 lateral wings that resemble the wings of an airplane. • They become airborne when released from their fruit and sail through the air like a true glider.

Parachutes • Parachutes include seeds or achenes (one-seeded fruits) with an umbrellalike crown of very small branched hairs at the top. • The slightest gust of wind catches the crown of fluffy seeds, raising and propelling the seed into the air like a parachute.

Helicopters • Helicopters (also called Whirlybirds) include seeds with a rigid wing at one end. • The wing typically looks like a propeller or fan blade, causing the seed to spin as it falls. • Depending on the wind velocity and distance above the ground, helicopter seeds can be carried considerable distances away from the parent plant.

Spinners • Flutterer/spinners include seeds with a papery wing around the entire seed or at each end. • When released from their seed capsules they flutter or spin through the air. • Whether they spin or merely flutter depends on the size, shape and pitch of the wings, and the wind velocity. • This method of wind dispersal is found in numerous species of flowering plants in many different plant families.

Cottony seeds • Cottony seeds and fruits include seeds and minute seed capsules with a tuft of cottony hairs at one end, or seeds embedded in a cottony mass. • One fuzzy brown cattail spike may contain a million tiny seeds. • Each seed has a tuft of silky white hairs and is small enough to pass through the "eye" of an ordinary sewing needle.

Animals and seeds Animals can transport seeds in two ways: • The seed gets stuck on the animal in the fur, feathers or claws. When the animal moves to another place, the seed is transported. Often these seeds have ‘hooks”. • A seed is transported when an animal eats the seed. Afterwards, the seed is excreted. Many seeds need to be eaten in order to start the growing process.

Water and Seeds • Some seeds are transported by water. • These plants usually grow near water, and when the seed drops, it travels by water to another location. • Coconuts are an example of this.