In nature same kind of plants grow at different places.

Sometimes, after a walk through a forest or a field or a park, you may have found seeds or fruits sticking to your clothes. If all seeds of a plant were to fall at the same place and grow there, there would be severe competition for sunlight, water, minerals and space. As a result, the seeds may not grow into healthy plants. Plants benefit by seed dispersal. It enables plants to invade new habitats for wider distribution.

Seeds and fruits of plants are carried away by wind, water and animals.

Some seeds are winged, some are spiny with hooks, while the others are hairy.

The fruit of the milkweed is a dry pod that explodes to reveal several tiny, plumed seeds. The wind catches the plumes and carries the seeds away from the milkweed plant.

Click to view our presentation on Dispersal of Seeds.

Click to view a glossary of Botanical names.