For some plants, wind, water, or animals just aren't enough to get their seeds away from the parent plant. Instead, they've evolved very unusual methods of seed dispersal. In this video, you'll see some examples of ballistochory, which is the use of force to disperse seeds.
Seed dispersal is the method plants use to move their seeds away from the parent plant.
Some plants use gentle breezes, like this dandelion.
Or water currents to carry their seeds away from the parent. Like a coconut drifting from a coconut palm tree.
But for some plants seed dispersal is an explosive affair. Like this milkweed pod.
Plants in the wood sorrel and geranium families count on specially constructed seed pods to disperse their seeds. When these pods dry out in the sun, they pop open, and the seeds are expelled by force, flying away from the parent plant.
Seed dispersal by force is also called ballistochory, with the root "ballo-" meaning "to throw.
Perhaps one of the most dramatic examples of ballistochory is the sandbox tree, native to warm areas in North and South America, including the Amazon rainforest.
Also called the "dynamite tree," this tree's small, pumpkin-shaped fruits explode with enough force that its seeds sail through the air at speeds up to 160 miles per hour and can travel between 150 to 300 feet away from the tree.
Seeds can also be distributed on the fur of animals. The spikes of this chestnut can become entangled in an animal’s fur.
Regardless of how seeds are dispersed. It is important that they are moved away from their parent plant.
Question
What form or structures do you think seeds that are dispersed by ballistochory might have?
