river talk

Seeds sown by nature

By SCOTT RANDO

Posted 11/27/24

One of the last things to be planted by area farmers in many fields in the region is winter rye or another cover crop. It’s typically planted in the early fall. This benefits the soil in many …

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river talk

Seeds sown by nature

RR photos by Scott Rando

Squirrels and other animals eat nuts and seeds from plants. A good example is the acorns that are produced by oak trees. Squirrels feed these and other mast and cache some nuts in holes they dig in the ground (one hole for each acorn). It is known, however, that a squirrel will forget where it buried some of the acorns over the winter. These forgotten acorns will form oak seedlings the following spring. This gray squirrel caches nuts over a wide area; however, red squirrels cache all their acorns in a single location.

RR photos by Scott Rando

The Japanese barberry keeps its berries long past the loss of the last leaf. During this time of year, birds can more easily find the red berries against the brown backdrop of dead plants. If you find an isolated Japanese barberry plant growing where there was none previously, chances are it was brought there as a seed by a bird. If you are bird watching in winter, check out bushes; they might bear bird-attracting fruit or seeds.

RR photos by Scott Rando

Common cattails flower over the summer, but the seeds are retained on the plant after the plant turns brown in the fall. The seeds are very small (about 1 mm) and can number over 200,000 seeds on a single plant. Over the fall and winter, the seeds detach from the main stem of the plant and are carried away by the wind. This flower pod is on the verge of popping open and dispersing seeds; the top portion has already exploded.

Posted Wednesday, November 27, 2024 11:36 am

By SCOTT RANDO

One of the last things to be planted by area farmers in many fields in the region is winter rye or another cover crop. It’s typically planted in the early fall. This benefits the soil in many ways, including guarding against erosion and adding to soil fertility for the next planting of crops. It does require human intervention though; the seeds have to be sown either manually, or by using mechanical farm implements.

Other seeds are dispersed by nature. If we think of an apple we picked off of a tree, for example, we may have started to eat it soon after picking. A hundred yards away, in the buffer between the apple orchard and the tomato field, we threw the core into a bit of uncultivated ground. Next spring, if the conditions are right, there could be a little apple seedling there.

The above example happened because of people, but there are many enticements provided by nature to get animals to disperse plant seeds. As with the apple, food enticement is high on the list of reasons plants get dispersed from established fields to new areas. Fruit or berries are eaten by an animal, and then the seeds are passed via the animal’s feces. The seed is protected by an outer layer that is impervious to the harsh compounds utilized in an animal’s digestive system.

Other methods that are utilized by plant species include wind (the filament, or pappus, of a dandelion seed can be blown miles away from the original plant). We have all gotten some burrs on our clothing at one time or another; they are also very good at getting stuck in an animal’s fur. Water also plays a role in seed dispersal. The invasive purple loosestrife can spread in such a manner near waterways.

Although you won’t see apples ready for the picking at a time of cold and snow, there are many examples of plants that have already died back for the winter and yet have viable seeds visible, ready to be transported to new areas.