God designed many ways for seeds to spread. Seeds don’t want to pitch a tent in the parent plant’s backyard. They travel to new territory to reproduce on their own without competing for sunlight.

See ya, Mom!

Gravity—Weight helps fruit fall from a branch when it ripens and its stem weakens. Round fruits might roll a small distance.

Stickiness—Seeds take an animal Uber. With sticky mucus or barbed spines they cling to the fur of passing critters.

Flutterers and Spinners—Some seeds glide on two wings like airplanes, while others flutter. Some act like whirlybirds or helicopters. Tumbleweeds roll in the wind, scattering seeds as they go.

Collectors—Seed-storers (ants, birds, rodents) carry seeds away. If the seeds are hidden underground, some may start to sprout.

Floaters—Some seeds or fruits can bob along far downstream in a river. They can drift across a lake. Some survive salt water long enough to be carried by currents across an ocean.

Exploders—In the fall, seed pods dry and shrink. Pressure builds. It takes only a light touch to trigger a pod to pop out its seeds. Some pods have holes. Wind blows and the seeds sprinkle out like salt from a shaker.

Ingesters—Animals scat-ter seeds. Fruits’ seeds have coatings that animals can’t digest. So the seeds can move through the animal’s belly, out through its scat, and into the ground.

Wafters—Dandelion seeds can travel 100 miles on the wind. Sometimes they even waft across the sea and grow on bare land where volcanoes have burned up plant life. Wind picks up the lightweight seeds. Dandelion fluff acts like a parachute. The seed’s bristles create a whirlwind of air. The vortex keeps the seed floating.