Seeds are nature's ultimate travelers, equipped with all kinds of clever ways to get moving and be transported over great distances. While we travel using GPS, seeds have been perfecting faraway travel for millions of years using ways of moving that are so effective, modern day engineers look to them for guidance.
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Dandelion seeds have little parachutes attached to them which allow them to stay in the air for multiple days, and they can travel over 1,000 miles! Each head of the dandelion has about 200 seeds. Scientists discovered that the plumes of the seeds create little vortexes which allow them to stay in the air longer. Maple seeds helicopter down to the ground, and the wings of the maple seeds have such a good design that helicopter engineers have used their ideas to help create helicopters.
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The Explosion Experts
This plant is called the touch-me-not because their seed pods explode and launch their seeds 20 feet away! As the pods dry, pressure builds inside the pod, causing it to release it's seeds in a spring loaded mechanism that works like a cannon! Violets also use this strategy, launching seeds from three part pods that open and spiral with great force.
The Professional Hitchhikers
The creator of Velcro invented the product after observing how the burrs from a burdock plant clung to his dog's fur. These burrs, which are seeds of the burdock plant, have developed hundreds of tiny hooks that latch onto passing animals — including deer, rabbits, and even your pants! These hooks are arranged in one direction that makes them very difficult to remove.
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The Water Taxi Service
Coconuts are the best at traveling across oceans because they can withstand saltwater for long periods of time, even up to three thousand miles! Their husks are made of fibrous materials that help them float while protecting the seed from the damage done by saltwater. Water lilies have seeds that are like little boats. They have air pockets that help them float. Once they get to a shallow area, the seed will germinate.
The Gourmet Strategy
Berries trick birds and mammals into eating their seeds. The flesh of the berry is not the main attraction, it is just packaging. Animals eat the berries, and then carry the seeds hundreds of miles in their bodies before dropping them off, as a sort of natural fertilizer. Some seeds can withstand digestion for many weeks, and will come out hundreds of miles away from the berry.
The System of Navigation By Way of Magnetism
Recent studies conducted by scientists indicate that certain seeds can sense the magnetic field of the earth in order to determine the best position for germination. These seeds posses an internal compass that allows them to position themselves in order to garner optimal amounts of sunlight.
The Patience Players
Certain types of seeds take a long time to germinate, waiting for decades to get the right conditions for growth. Desert seeds stay dormant during long droughts, but after a rare rain, they will quickly germinate. This strategy allows them to avoid potentially poor growing conditions.
The Tornado Riders
Tumbleweeds become living seed dispensers by breaking away from their roots. They roll for miles while scattering seeds along their route. As they tumble across the landscape, they drop seeds at intervals, establishing new colonies over a wide area.
The Underground Railroad
Some seeds travel through underground networks as ants love the nutritious appendages attached to the seeds. When the ants take the seeds to their colonies, they eat the attachments and then throw the seeds away in their waste chambers, which are good places for the seeds to germinate because they are nutrient-rich.
Next time you are outside, think about how you are seeing one of the most complex systems for moving things in nature. Every dandelion seed, every burr that gets stuck to you, every berry that gets eaten by a bird, and every tiny creature that gets transported in a car are examples of the last several million years of evolutionary design. These little adventurers are changing our planet with every trip.
