Answer:
There are five main modes of seed dispersal: gravity, wind, ballistic, water, and by animals. Some plants are serotinous and only disperse their seeds in response to an environmental stimulus.
<u>Gravity</u>: A good example of gravity dispersal is the marigold flower. When they are ready, these seeds drop to the ground.
<u>Wind</u>: There are two types of wind dispersal adaptations, the floaters, and the fliers:
<u>(wind) Floaters</u>: The common dandelion is a good example of this type of seed dispersal.
<u>(wind) Fliers</u>: Maple seeds grow in pairs, but when they are mature, they separate, and a strong wind can pull them from the stem
<u>Ballistic</u>: Some common examples of this type of dispersal are garden peas. When the cells grow older, the result is that the pods break open and twist. This twisting actions pops the seeds lose and pushes them away from the pod.
<u>Water</u>: Coconuts have a husk that surrounds the seed. This husk is very buoyant and a coconut seed can float across hundreds of miles of ocean before washing ashore on a new island to germinate and grow into a tree.
<u>Animals</u>: there are also two types of these, hitchhikers and edibles. Seeds that stick to the outside of animals, or are spread when they go out the other end after being eaten:
<u>Hitchhikers</u>: Some examples are cockleburs and foxtail.
<u>Edibles</u>: These seeds are surrounded by good tasting fruit, like apples and peaches.
