10 Explosive Plants (Ballistic Seed Dispersal Mechanisms)
- Sandbox Tree (Hura Crepitans)
- Touch-Me-Not (Impatiens Capensis)
- Cracker Plant (Ruellia Tuberosa)
- Wood Sorrels (Oxalis)
- Squirting Cucumber (Ecballium Elaterium)
- Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine Hirsuta)
- Honey Spurge (Euphorbia Mellifera)
- Dwarf Mistletoes (Arceuthobium spp.)
- Violets (Viola spp.)
- Firecracker Flower (Crossandra infundibuliformis)
What are some plants that disperse seeds by explosive action?
1 Euphorbiaceae. The Euphorbia family produces segmented seed capsules that somewhat resemble a peeled orange in shape. 2 Acanthaceae. The Acanthus family (Acanthaceae) produces a number of shrubs that distribute seeds through explosive action. 3 Malvaceae. Some plants in the mallow family (Malvaceae) disperse seeds via ballistichory. ...
What is seed dispersal?
Seed dispersal is an essential mechanism through which spermatophytes or seed-bearing plants disperse their seeds via dispersal agents like wind, water, fruit explosion and animals. Seeds disperse into new sites where they grow or germinate under favourable conditions.
Are explosive seed dispersers ballistically short-distance dispersers?
Ecological correlates of explosive seed dispersal Based on the constraints of the ballistic mechanism, we suggest that plants that utilize explosive dispersal are either maximizing ballistic distances or maximizing secondary dispersal (and thus are ballistically short-distance dispersers).
What is ballochory seed dispersal?
Ballistic seed dispersal (or ballochory) consists of the plant ejecting the seed (s) with a great force, similar to a small explosion. This process is also known as explosive dehiscence. This event differs from one plant species to another and is more thrilling and fun to watch in some plants.
Which plant is dispersed by explosion?
Seed Dispersal by Explosions Okra, Lupins, gorse, and broom are a few examples of plants whose seeds are dispersed by Explosions. Pea and bean plants also have pods and the seeds burst out when they ripen and pod has dried.
What is an example of explosion dispersal?
Some plants distribute their seeds by violently ejecting them so that they fall well away from the parent plant. This is explosive dispersal. An example of this is plants which belong to the Pea Family (Leguminosae). They produce seed pods which dry in the sun.
What is dispersed by explosion?
Explosive seed dispersal is an example of autochory, where seeds are dispersed by a plant's own mechanisms, and is found in various angiosperm lineages including the genus Cardamine.
Are peas dispersed by explosion?
Pea seeds are dispersed by the explosion of their pod.
What fruits have explosives?
In plants like peas, beans, castor, cucumbers, Ruellia, etc., this process of seed dispersal called autochory is observed. When in contact with water, Ruellia tuberosa dry fruits burst open in two halves and throw seeds into distant locations so that the fruit is explosive.
What is coconut dispersed by?
Coconut seeds are dispersed by Hydrochory (dispersal by water).
Which fruit seeds are dispersed by explosion?
Violets, poisonous squirting cucumbers, and touch-me-nots or Impatiens capensis (not to be confused with these touch-me-nots) have an effective way of dispersing their seeds: They burst! The forceful ejection sends the seeds flying as far away as possible from the original plant.
What plants have seed pods that explode?
Jewelweed is an annual, meaning it lives only for one year and comes back from the seeds the next year. The seeds grow in pods, which expand in size, building up pressure – until they explode when touched. This is why they are also called touch-me-nots.
How do apple seeds disperse?
In some plants seeds are housed within a fruit (such as apples or oranges). These fruits, including the seeds, are eaten by animals who then disperse the seeds when they defecate. Some fruits can be carried by water, such as a floating coconut. Some seeds have little hooks that can stick on to an animal's furry coat.
How are blackberry seeds dispersed?
The main way seeds are spread is through animals eating them, digesting them, and then excreting them.
How are mustard seeds dispersed?
Seed Dispersal Under the Threat of Mustard Bomb – Michal Samuni-Blank (2012) Plants evolved diverse ways to disperse their seeds using animals. ... These dispersers regurgitate or defecate seeds after flying far away. On the other hand, most fruit eaters are also seed predators.
How are lotus seeds dispersed?
Lotus seeds are dispersed by water.
How are seeds dispersed through explosion?
When the seeds are ready, the pod dries up. When the pod dries, the inside of the pod dries faster than the outside. This makes the pod twist inside, suddenly splitting open violently, rolling into a little spiral. When this roll happens, it makes the seeds fly out of the pod in all directions.
What causes the explosion for the explosive dispersal of seeds?
0:315:29Biology behind seed dispersal by explosion - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipOne explosive the other non explosive to ask what were the novelties that evolved and khaddama kneeMoreOne explosive the other non explosive to ask what were the novelties that evolved and khaddama knee to allow explosive seed dispersal the Kodama knee fruit has more lignin.
What do you mean by explosion of fruits?
Solution : Autochory (Dispersal by explosion) is self dispersal of the seeds which occurs when the fruit splits up at maturity. Such fruits open with force and scatter the seeds in all directions.
How are seeds dispersed by fire?
Fire stimulates seeds in seed banks to germinate, the trigger being direct stimulation by heat. This is most common in plants with seeds that have thick, hard seed coats that prevent germination by keeping oxygen and water away from the seed inside (Figure 12).
What plant shoots seeds?
Some plants in the mallow family (Malvaceae) disperse seeds via ballistichory. The common garden vegetable okra (Abelmoschus spp.) is a plant that shoots seeds when touched, projecting its seeds several feet. Okras are annuals that are hardy in USDA zones 4 through 11. The kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra, also known as cotton tree) is native to South America and produces cream-colored flowers with an unpleasant smell. The pods burst open, sending both seeds and the exploding seed pod's cottony insulation into the wind. Kapok trees are hardy in USDA zones 10 through 11.
What plant uses ballistichory?
One of the largest groups of plants that uses ballistichory is the pea family, or Fabaceae. This is just one type of plant that shoots seeds when touched and the pod is cracked open. Lupins (Lupinus spp.), a garden favorite that's hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 9, form columns of pea-like fruits ...
What is the name of the tree that produces cream colored flowers?
Okras are annuals that are hardy in USDA zones 4 through 11. The kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra, also known as cotton tree) is native to South America and produces cream-colored flowers with an unpleasant smell. The pods burst open, sending both seeds and the exploding seed pod's cottony insulation into the wind.
What is the name of the plant that makes a popping noise when it bursts open?
Orchid trees (Bauhinia spp.), hardy in USDA zones 9 through 11, bear large pods that can fling seeds nearly 50 feet. Gorse ( Ulex spp.), an aggressive broom-type plant that is considered a noxious weed in some states, makes a popping noise when the seed pods burst open.
Why do dried fruit seeds disperse?
This type of seed dispersal occurs because the fibers in the dried fruit pull against each other to create tension, and when the tension is great enough, the fruit splits open and the walls of the fruit spring back, flinging the seeds out with force.
How do plants disperse seeds?
Some plants disperse their seeds forcefully by ejecting them. Sometimes the tension is so great, seeds may be ejected up to 200 feet away from the mother plant. This method of seed dispersal is called "ballistichory," a label that hints at the projectile-like emergence of seeds from their pods or capsules. This type of seed dispersal occurs because the fibers in the dried fruit pull against each other to create tension, and when the tension is great enough, the fruit splits open and the walls of the fruit spring back, flinging the seeds out with force.
Which family of plants shoots seeds?
Most Plants in Euphorbiaceae Family. Another plant that shoots seeds when touched is Euphorbiaceae. The Euphorbia family produces segmented seed capsules that somewhat resemble a peeled orange in shape. Examples of plants in this family include bitterbark (Petalostigma spp.), the sandbox tree (Hura crepitans), and the rubber tree (Hevea spp.)
What type of seeds are dispersed by explosions?
This type of seed dispersal is mainly seen in those plants having pods. Okra, Lupins, gorse, and broom are a few examples of plants whose seeds are dispersed by Explosions. Pea and bean plants also have pods and the seeds burst out when they ripen and pod has dried.
What is seed dispersal?
Seed Dispersal is a natural process of transporting seeds away from the parent plant both by the biotic and abiotic vectors. Explore more about the types of seed dispersal @ BYJU’S
How many species of impatiens are there?
The Impatiens genus has over 1000 species and I don’t know how many of them exhibit the same seed dispersal behavior. Certainly the common garden species do.
What happens to seeds when wind dispersal?
With wind dispersal, the seeds are simply blown about and land in all kinds of places.
How do seeds spread?
Seeds can be dispersed by the wind, where plants had evolved to let go of their seeds when the wind blow.
Why do seeds fly in the air?
Air - Seeds with hairy texture will fly in air due to wind force and disperse to different place. And they germinate when there is a favorable environment for them
What is the mechanism of ballistic dispersal?
Ballistic dispersal, where the seeds are ejected by a propulsion mechanism called turgor pressure, where seeds are pressurized by some internal rigidity maintaining factors [ 2]. One example is the:
How does tension build in seed pods?
This challenged the established view that tension builds passively in the seed pod by differential contraction of the pod walls as they dry. This explanation puzzled the team because popping cress pods exploded while hydrated, rather than dry. Their surprising discovery was that hydrated cells in the outer layer of the pod walls actually used their internal pressure in order to contract and generate tension. Using a computational model of three-dimensional plant cells (Fig. 2), they showed that when these cells were pressurized, they expanded in depth while contracting in length; like the way an air mattress expands in depth, when inflated, but contracts in width.
How fast does a seed pod move?
1). The seeds are accelerated away from the pod and get up-to-speed extremely quickly: from 0 to 10 metres per second in half a millisecond. The interdisciplinary team discovered that the secret to explosive acceleration in popping cress is the evolutionary innovation of a fruit wall that can store elastic energy through growth and expansion, and rapidly release this energy at the right stage of development.
Do plants have muscles?
Unlike animals, plants don’t have muscles to move their organs. So rapid movements, like exploding seed pods, are rare in the plant kingdom. Two HFSP-funded groups in the Department of Comparative Development and Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, worked together with scientists from different disciplines to discover how the seed pods of popping cress explode.
Why is seed dispersal important?
Seed dispersal is important in many aspects like germination and fertilization in the plant body, ensuring the continuity of plant species.
How do aquatic plants disperse their seeds?
Some aquatic and terrestrial plant species use hydrochory to disperse their seeds. Waterborne seeds travel long distances by floating on the water. Aquatic plants living in the water bodies disperse seeds that float downstream the water and germinate at new sites. Conversely, the seeds of terrestrial plants fall in the soil during the low tide of water and travel long distances during the high tide of water.
How do plants increase their geographical distribution and population size?
Plants increase their geographical distribution and population size by using different means of seed dispersal. Dispersal of seeds gives a fair chance to all the seedlings to grow well and allows colonization of plant species in different habitats. In addition, it also facilitates the interaction of the biotic and abiotic components with the different plant species.
Why do seeds shatter?
It involves explosive dehiscence of fruits due to changes in the turgor pressure and internal tension. Geranium species, Euphorbia species, Witch hazel etc., are examples undergoing ballochory.
What is the term for the process of a plant transferring seeds to new locations?
Such seeds indirectly adhere to the fur of animals and birds and thereby translocate into new locations through a phenomenon called “ Epizoochory ”.
What is the name of the plant that floats on the wind?
It is also called “ Anemochory ”. Here, the seeds may float on the breeze or flutter away on the wind. Seeds of dandelion and maple plants disperse into distant sites via wind or air. Airborne seeds possess the following characteristics:
What is a serotinuous plant?
Serotinuous plants represent a plant group that disperse seeds in response to environmental stimuli.