Development

It’s amazing how plants have found a variety of ways to ensure their reproduction and dispersal. They might simply trust in the wind to transport their pollen, but many plants use insects for pollination. In the tropics, even bats sometimes get the job.

For the dispersal of their seeds, plants may use various mechanisms to enable them to travel for many kilometers in the wind, or they use tasty fruits to ensure that animals will distribute them. Other plants catapult their seeds through the air, or make them float on water.

And after arriving at a good site?

…the next fascinating process starts: the dry seed takes up lots of water and the seed coats cracks open. Next, the seedling pushes its root in the ground and unfolds the seed leaves, followed by its first real leaves. As soon as the seedling develops some green pigment, it can start photosynthesising.