Page 57 - The Miracle In The Seed

Seed Dispersal

Seed capsules of the evening prim-
rose open when they get wet, and
the seeds are thus dispersed.

A Natural Rocket System

Plants like the Mediterranean squirting cucumber generate their
own force to distribute seeds. As the squirting cucumber ripens, it fills
with a slimy juice, which gradually creates pressure until the cucum-
ber bursts off its stalk. Behind it comes a trail of slime like the trail be-
hind a space rocket. By this means, the cucumber’s seeds are dispersed
on the ground together with the slime. 19
At first glance, this mechanism seems like a plant just exploding
at maturity, but it’s in fact very sensitive. It is of vital importance that
when the fruit starts filling with juice is synchronized with the time
when the cucumber and its seeds start to mature. For if the system we-
re to operate before the seeds matured, there’d be no advantage in the
cucumber bursting. This would prevent the plant from reproducing,