Q1.
Have you seen seeds like these flying in the wind? What would happen to the seeds if there was no wind?
Answer
Yes — the feathery parachute seeds of the dandelion, the cottony seeds of the semal (silk-cotton) and madar (aak), and the winged seeds of the sal, maple and gulmohar that spin down like tiny helicopters. All of them are built to ride on moving air.
If there were no wind:
- Every seed would drop straight down and land in the shadow of its own parent plant.
- Hundreds of seedlings would then be crowded into one small patch, fighting each other for the same light, water and soil nutrients. Most would die.
- The species could not spread to new ground — a plant cannot walk, so the wind is its transport.
- If a fire, flood or disease struck that one patch, the whole local population could be wiped out, because there would be no offspring growing anywhere else.
- Wind-pollinated plants — grasses, maize, bajra, pine — would also fail to set seed at all, because their pollen too travels on the wind.
Why the shape of the seed matters: A parachute of fine hairs or a thin papery wing gives the seed a large surface for very little weight. Moving air pushes such a seed sideways for a long time before gravity brings it down — which is exactly how a seed a few milligrams heavy can end up hundreds of metres from its parent.
Did you know? Wind is not the only carrier. Coconuts float to new shores on sea water, burrs hook onto animal fur, and birds carry fruit seeds in their droppings. But wind is the cheapest and most common way for a plant to send its children away from home.