at how many tricky ways seeds spread themselves.
I would carefully look at the seeds that stuck to my
pants, socks and shoelaces. They were determined
little things clinging to my clothes. Some were
sticky, others had little "jabbers," while still others
had little spiral hooks. I have no idea what kind of
seeds they were, but I was fascinated with the
clever simplicity of how they moved. This caused
me to search for the fancy, scientific words used to
describe the simple spreading of seeds.
carries them until they land, germinate and take
root. Would you believe there is a word just for the
seeds that are spread using the wind?
"Anemochory" is the word. It's a weird and difficult
word. Most allergies are from pollen in the air.
Next time you hear someone sneeze ask if they
have an "Anemochory" problem. Even if you
pronounce it wrong, no one will correct you, I can
just about guarantee that. I plan to research this
whole field (no pun intended) because I am
intrigued with how such devices could be
dreamed up in the first place.
There is another field of science that researches
only seeds that are spread by water called
"Hydrochory." Already you should see a pattern
and some of you know "hydro" refers to water. It
must be pretty vast to get its own scientific word.
people doesn't have a scientific name. Actually, it
does, but it applies to animals. These types of
seeds that spread by clinging to animals come
under the banner of "Zoochory." That's easy, huh?
By now you may have noticed they all end with
"c-h-o-r-y."
spread of seeds to wind, water and animals. Any
guesses? How about "Saurochory"? "Sauro" as in
"saurus"it is the spread of seeds by reptiles. I
guess there is a lot I don't know about reptiles
spreading seeds but I can learn.
distributed by birds and "Myrmecochory," refers
to ants. They even break down the animal
category three ways: If the seeds are carried inside
an animal, it is called "Endozoochory."
If it is carried on the outside, like on your pet's fur
or your sneakers, it is called "Epizoochory." They
even have a name if the seed is INTENTIONALLY
carried by a creature, mostly in the mouth (birds
and ants were cited as examples). That is called
"Synzoochory." I know it is overwhelming, all
these weird "chory" words (pronounced "KORY").
When most people think of spreading seeds, they
think of pushcarts that go over the lawn.
However, what I just described shows that the
realm of seed spreading is far more vast and
sophisticated than I imagined. All the trees,
weeds, wildflowers and various plant life spread
all over the world without the aid of man. The
more you investigate any field of science the
layers of design go deeper and deeper until one
has to declare, "This can't be an accident!"