13 SEED DISPERSAL

Fig. 1
In the previous chapter “Reproduction in How did they grow into plants? She was
Plants” you have learnt about the parts of the surprised. We often see plants that grow on
flower. Do you know which part of the flower cracked walls and on stones. How do seeds
turns into fruit? What does the fruit contain? reach there?
You have also seen the section on the Ovary. Generally we sow seeds in our house gardens
What develops from the Ovule? You know and in fields, but different kinds of plants grow
that after fertilization ovary develops as fruit in our surroundings. Who sows these seeds?
and ovules develop into seeds. When the seeds How do seeds travel from one place to
germinate they give birth to new plants. another? Ravali has so many doubts .
You may have observed some fruits or Why are seeds dispersed?
vegetables growing in a garden or your back
yard. Some fruits may be seen growing singly Most of the seeds fall in the soil and get
while some are in bunches. Some of them buried in the ground. After some time they
contain one seed, whereas some others germinate and grow into small plants.
contain many seeds. What will happen if all the seeds fall in
One day Ravali the same place and germinate producing
saw that a tomato plants?
plant was growing Will they have sufficient place to grow?
on the roof top. Will they get sufficient sun light and
No one can sow water?
seeds on the house
top.How did they Can they survive in the absence of light
reach there? and water?
Fig. 2
When we discuss these questions we will

VII Science 123

know that seed dispersal is necessary to grow these aspects..
tiny plants of the same species. To avoid How are seeds dispersed?
competition with the mother plant for air,
water and minerals plants disperse their seeds Do you know the factors that affect seed
to different distances. But the process of dispersal? Are the characteristics of seeds
dispersal varies from plant to plant. Plants decided on the way they are dispersed? Let us
have special mechanism for seed dispersal. find out.
Do seeds travel to find suitable places to Let us do – 2: Observing different seeds
germinate? Do the dispersed seeds have any
Collect some seeds like grass, poppy, bhendi,
special characteristics? Does the travelling
coconut etc. Try to collect different types of
mechanism affect seed dispersal? Let us study
seeds like seeds with hair, thorns, big, small,
Nature of Seed
S.No.

Name of
the Seed Light Heavy Round Flat Hairy Thorny Fibrous
Bhendi

light, heavy etc., and record the information There are different seeds with different
in the given table 1: structures which are useful for their dispersal.
· Which seeds can be carried by air? Do you know how these seeds are dispersed
· Name the seeds that are round and from one place to another?
heavy? Different agents of the seed dispersal
· Which seeds can float on water? 1. Dispersal through wind
· Which seeds contain hooks/horns? Have you seen white hairy balls or parachute
Why? like structure moving in air? Children try to
· Are the hairy seeds light and flat? Why? catch them. Have you ever tried to do so too?
They are the seeds of caltropis. These seeds
· How are fibrous seeds? Are they light have light and hairy structure at one end. They
or heavy? travel with wind and settle at a suitable place
· Are there Tadi seeds in your list? Which to germinate. Seeds that are dispersed through
characteristics do you find in them? air are usually light and are either very small
or are light with wings on them or some hairy

124 Seed Dispersal

structures on them. The seeds get adapted in seeds are dispersed by water? (Hint: Think
such a way that they get carried away easily by about water plants)
wind. Some seeds float in air, some propel 3. Dispersal of seeds by birds and other
to travel short distances. animals
Discuss with your friends and list out the seeds
which are dispersed by birds and animals.
Milkweed Dandelion Maple Seeds are dispersed by animals in many ways.
In case of fleshy fruits, the fruit is eaten by
Fig. 3
animals while some dry fruits, with specialized
In some plants like orchids seeds are minute structures like hooks, thorns, hairy parts, get
with inflated covering. In plants like maple, stuck to the bodies of animals and get carried
seeds have wing like outgrowths. Cotton seeds to distant places. We find such seeds in some
have hairy structures. These types of kind of grass plants.
specialized structures, present in the seeds, will
be helpful for dispersal by air.
Try to find out names of seeds which float in
air in your surroundings and make a list.
2. Dispersal by water
Fig. 5
Did you notice some kinds of fruits or seeds
getting stuck to your clothes when you walk
through fields and bushes? They have hooks or
thorns on them. Find out which fruits or seeds
these are?
Fig. 4
How do seeds float on water? Some seeds are sticky and get stuck to the
beaks of birds and in course of flight they fall
The seeds adapted to float on water are usually
down at distant places. Often some birds carry
light. The outer covering of the seed has
empty spaces filled with air and some are seeds with their beaks. Some of them fall
fibrous with air spaces that encloses the whole before they reach their nesting places.
seed or fruit. Eg: Coconut. The entire Do you know some seeds have to pass
Coconut fruit floats on water and moves from through the guts of some birds before they
one place to another. When it reaches the germinate?
ground it germinates. That’s why we usually
find coconut trees growing near sea shores.
Seeds that are heavy usually fall to the bottom
of water sources and get carried by the flow
of water. Ex: Seeds of Lotus.
Give examples of some other plants whose Fig. 6

VII Science 125

 The forgetful squirrel.
It collects a lot of nuts and hides them underground
before onset of winter. It can hardly eat all of them and
even forget where it has hidden its nuts! Thus we have
several nut trees at different places.
Birds like Bulbuls, Mynahs, Crows eat some the seeds with great force in the surroundings.
fruits (Eg: Neem fruit) the outer fleshly part We find such type of seeds in Bhendi,
gets digested in the food canal and the seed Mustard and seeds of Pea family. Some seeds
coats of them become tender.They are then grow in capsules which when touched burst
dispersed to other places as bird droppings. and uncoil with a force in such a way that they
Many fleshy fruits are meant to being eaten scatter the seeds all around.
by animals. The fleshy part of the fruit is eaten
leaving the seeds uninjured. Some seeds get
dispersed through animal excretions
Let us do:
Observe the animals in your surroundings.
Fill in the following table.

S.No. Name of the Fruits eaten / Seed

Animal dispersed
The seeds of Balsam are dispersed in this
manner. You may have also noticed that some
fruits explode when we sprinkle water on
them and the seeds get dispersed.
Try to list out such types of seeds that you
see in your surroundings
Let us do: Observation of scattering of the
seeds
Collect fruits of Kankambaram from your or
your friends houses, sprinkle water on them.
Write your observations. Collect some dry
pods of pea, gingelly (Til), bhendi from a
nearby field or from a shop and try to open
4. Dispersal by bursting of fruits that them. What happens to the seeds in the pod?
throw the seed out: How far are they scattered? Note the distance.
Many fruits enclose the seed in a capsule or • In which weather conditions do seeds
pod. Upon drying the pod explodes releasing scatter?

126 Seed Dispersal

• Do you think that these seeds would Let us do: Seeds in fruits
scatter in this way during rainy season? Collect different kinds of fruit which are
5. Dispersal of seeds through human available in your surroundings. Open them
beings and count how many seeds they have. Try to
Generally we sow seeds of flowers, fruits and collect information about seeds and enrich the
vegetables in our home garden . Everyone is following table.
aware of Tomatoes. It is a common vegetable S.No.
Name of the
Number of Seeds
cooked in every home. In tomato pickles, Fruit
tomato curry etc. we find Tomatoes. Do you
know from where this fruit has come from
and that it is not native to India? When
European travellers came to trade in India,
they left the seeds of vegetables like tomato,
cauliflower, guava, pear on their return.
Similarly sugar cane which is native to India
and is used worldwide for production of
sugar, is a good example of how people
transfer seeds/fruits from one place to
another.
Now-a-days we see different kinds of fruits
and vegetables around us. Import and export
of grains like wheat pulses, maize, paddy is a
common practice through which many seeds
get dispersed all over the world. It is funny to
think that seeds also travel by aeroplanes and • Which fruits have a large number of
ships! seeds?
Let us do: • Which fruits have a single seed?
Form group of four or five students and try • Doall the seeds germinate to grow into
to collect information about other seeds plants?
dispersed by man. All the seeds of a fruit should be able to
Why plants produced a large number of germinate to produce new plants. Actually
seeds: this does not happen. If this happens we will
You observed that fruits and vegetable plants see only same type of plants in large number
that grow in our home garden produce a large in our surroundings. All seeds don’t
number of seeds. Some fruits grow in singly germinate. Some seeds never germinate to
whereas some are in bunches. Some fruits have produce new plants. Some seeds germinate
a single seed in them and some have a large but plants die before maturation. To
number of seeds. overcome these problems plants produce a
large number of seeds.

VII Science 127

 Do you know:
A mustard plant produces more than 10,000
seeds in its lifetime. If all the seeds germinate
to grow into adult plants, think how many seeds
would be produced. If this happens for a period
of six years the entire globe will be covered with
mustard plants!

What we have learnt: 6. Collect the information in the following

• Seeds are carried from one place to table and discuss the reasons?
another so that they get suitable
conditions to grow, this is called Agents of Name of the seed / Fruit
dispersal of seeds. dispersal

• Seed dispersal is essential for survival of By wind

plants.
By water
• Seeds are of different shapes and sizes
and structures on them that help in By animal
dispersal.
By bird
• Seeds are dispersed by wind, water, birds
and animals. By man
Key words: By any
other
Dispersal, Bursting Mechanism, Fleshy
Fruit 7. Some seeds like soap nuts have very hard
Improve Your learning : shell. Why it is so?
1. What happens if seeds are not dispersed? 8. Now- a-days people want to eat sprouts. List
out the reasons why they take sprouts as
2. How are the seeds dispersed in caltropis? food?
3. Why do most of the coconut trees grow 9. Collect some seeds sow them in a particular
along the sea shores? place in your school garden. Observe how
4. Do you find any relationship between the many days each type of seed takes to
weight of the seeds and the dispersal germinate. Tabulate your observations.
mechanism? Discuss with suitable 10. Collect Tadi seeds and make a model.
examples. Display them in your School.
5. Ravali said “dispersal of seed is very
important in nature” Is she correct? Why
do you support her?

128 Seed Dispersal