Fruits And Seed Formation
Reproduction in plants of Class 7
After complete fertilisation, ovary grows into a complete fruit and other parts of the flower fall off. The fruit is the ripened ovary. The seeds develop from the ovules. The seed contains an embryo enclosed in a protective seed coat. Some fruits are fleshy and juicy such as mango, apple and orange. Some fruits are hard like almonds and walnuts.
SEED DISPERSAL
In nature same kind of plants grow at different places. This happens because seeds are dispersed to different places. Sometimes after a walk through a forest or a field or a park, you may have found seeds or fruits sticking to your clothes.What do you think will happen if all seeds of a plant were to fall at the same place and grow there? There would be severe competition for sunlight, water, minerals and space. As a result the seeds would not grow into healthy plants. Plants benefit by seed dispersal. It prevents competition between the plant and its own seedlings for sunlight, water and minerals. It also enables the plants to invade new habitats for wider distribution. Seeds and fruits of plants are carried away by wind, water and animals. Some seeds are dispersed by water. These fruits or seeds usually develop floating ability in the form of spongy or fibrous outer coat as in coconut. Some seeds are dispersed by animals, especially spiny seeds with hooks which get attached to the bodies of animals and are carried to distant places. Examples are Xanthium and Urena. Some seeds are dispersed when the fruits burst with sudden jerks. The seeds are scattered far from the parent plant. This happens in the case of castor and balsam.
