Plants appear to be fixed in place. But the seeds that sprouted them are designed to move. That’s the heart of the idea behind a new exhibit at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff.
Vivid up-close photographs by Taylor James show desert seeds in microscopic detail, revealing wings, hooks, and other structures that allow them to float, fly, or hitchhike to new locations.
For example, the seeds of a Western flower called filaree wind up like springs until they explosively hurl themselves from their mother plant. The spear-shaped tip of the seed corkscrews into the ground. Effectively, they plant themselves.
Or take devil’s claw, which produces an enormous seedpod with two pronged hooks. Scientists believe the oversized design is left over from days when giant sloths roamed the landscape. Nowadays, devil’s claw is more likely to hook onto the feet of cattle or people. And it’s been cultivated for generations by Indigenous peoples of the Southwest such as the Havasupai and Hualapai.
Another ingenious way seeds get from place to place is in the bellies of animals. Rattlesnakes eat rodents that have stuffed their cheeks with seeds. Those seeds emerge from the snake’s digestive system intact and ready to sprout, along with a blob of fertilizer to get them started.
The exhibit “Designed to Move” was created by the Biomimicry Center at Arizona State University and will remain on display at the Museum of Northern Arizona until spring of next year.
This Earth Note was written by Melissa Sevigny produced by KNAU and the Sustainable Communities Program of Northern Arizona University.
