Seeds are little more than protective coatings for tiny plant embryos. For plants, the production of seeds is job one, with seed dispersal running a close second. This hierarchy is not without reason. Due to competition for resources, young plants have a greatly reduced chance for survival if they take root directly at the base of the parent plant. The milkweed pod spread open to let fly hundreds of seeds that float away like bubbles on a breezy day.
Plants rely on four main modes of dispersal, each a one-way ticket to a place to put down roots.
If this sounds like an adventure, it is. Seeds take to the air, set out to sea, are swallowed and buried and then some. The first method of seed dispersal is the wind. Almost everyone has seen plants gently swaying in the breeze. Actually, it is both beautiful and necessary.