What Adaptations Do Plants Have to Disperse Seeds?

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What Adaptations Do Plants Have to Disperse Seeds?
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Plants rely on their environment to disperse
seeds.

• Wind
• Animal Transport
• External
• Internal
• Other burying seeds
• Drop to ground

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Wind Dispersal
Some structures allow seeds to be easily carried
in the wind.
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Animal Transport
Some plants depend upon animals to disperse their
seeds. There are three variations of animal
dispersal

• External Transport
• Examples of seed structures for external
  transport
• Hooks
• Barbs
• Internal Transport
• Seeds are encased in fleshy fruits
• Inadvertent dispersal (burying seeds)

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Hooks and Serrated Edges
Projections extending from a seed case attach
onto a passing animal, carrying the seed to a new
location.
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Barbs
Barbs attach to animal fur.
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Internal Dispersal
Fleshy fruits surround seeds to be consumed and
expelled by animals.
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Other Animal Assisted Dispersal
The Oak tree depends upon the squirrel for its
seed dispersal.
Squirrels bury acorns in the Fall and often
forget where they are in the winter. These seeds
then sprout new trees.
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Drop Dispersal
Some plants simply drop the seeds on the ground.
What are some disadvantages of this method?
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What adaptations do seeds have to assist in
dispersal?
Identify the adaptation and type of dispersal for
each of the following pictures.
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Answers
Composite Pappus wind
Acorn Food animal dispersal
Wildflower Drop dispersal
Wildflower Hooks animal dispersal
Composite Pappus wind
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This is an individual seed case from the burdock
bur taken at 60X.
Seed photos in this presentation were taken with
the QX3 Intel Play Microscope.