What are the common plants that spread their seeds by water?

Plants that spread their seeds by water include the coconut and the water lily. When the fruit of the coconut palm ripens, it falls from the tree and drifts far away with the seawater; when the waves wash it onto an island, a new coconut palm will grow on the shore. When the fruit of the water lily ripens, it falls into the water and slowly rots, and the seeds wrapped in a spongy outer seed coat float up and drift to other places, finally sinking to the bottom to take root and sprout.

1. Coconut

In China, the coconut is distributed across the islands of southern Guangdong and the Leizhou Peninsula, Hainan, Taiwan, China, and the tropical areas of southern Yunnan. Its flowering and fruiting period is mainly in autumn. The fruit is ovoid or nearly spherical, about 15-25 cm long. The exocarp is thin, the mesocarp is thick and fibrous, and the endocarp is hard and woody. The fruit cavity contains the endosperm (that is, the “flesh” or kernel), the embryo, and the liquid (coconut water).

2. Water Lily

The water lily is widely distributed in China, from the northeast to Yunnan and west to Xinjiang, and generally grows in still water bodies such as ponds and lakes. It blooms successively from May to August and sets fruit after flowering. The fruit is spongy and ripens beneath the water surface, and the seeds are wrapped in a gelatinous substance.