Which plants rely on the sun to disperse their seeds?

There are many ways seeds are dispersed, including by wind, by water, by ballistic ejection, and so on, so what relies on the sun to disperse seeds?

1. What relies on the sun to disperse seeds?

Plants that rely on the sun to disperse their seeds include peas, soybeans, hemp, squirting cucumber, garden balsam, wood sorrel, chestnuts, and plants of the cruciferous family. Among them, peas disperse when the sun dries the pods, which then instantly burst open and shoot out. In garden balsam, after the fruit is dried by the sun, the fruit splits open and flings the seeds in all directions.

2. What are the ways seeds are dispersed?

1. Wind dispersal

Plants that rely on wind to disperse their seeds: dandelion, wild crowndaisy, Emilia sonchifolia, bitter lettuce, reed, and so on. The seeds of these plants are relatively light, and each seed carries fluffy fibers or thin wings; when the wind blows, they drift and set off on a spontaneous journey, and when they meet suitable soil and climate, they take root and sprout, growing into new plants.

2. Animal dispersal

Plants that rely on animal fur to disperse their seeds: Siberian cocklebur, Urena lobata, beggarticks, Achyranthes aspera, and so on. The seeds of these plants have barbed hooks on the outside, stick to people's clothes or animals' fur, and are carried far away, completing seed dispersal.

3. Ballistic dispersal

Some plants' seeds rely on their own explosive force to spread the seeds outward, such as wood sorrel, garden balsam, sesame, as well as most beans including red beans and mung beans. These seeds generally have an outer shell; when the seeds mature, the fibers of the shell dehydrate and tighten, and at the slightest disturbance the shell bursts open, flinging the seeds out.

4. Water dispersal

Plants that rely on the flow of water to disperse their seeds: coconut, lotus seed, gorgon nut, and so on. These plants generally grow by the water, and their seeds all have hard shells. After maturing, they fall into the water, drift with the waves, and after being washed ashore, take root and sprout.

5. Bird dispersal

Most seeds dispersed by birds are fleshy fruits, such as berries, drupes, and syconia. Birds peck at the seeds of plants in the Lauraceae family and then spit the seeds out. After the fruit is eaten, the seeds pass through the digestive tract and are excreted at random. Plants that rely on birds to disperse their seeds are a relatively advanced group, because the distance over which birds disperse seeds is the farthest of all methods.