Pelargonium longicaule twisted fruit

    Pelargonium longicaule twisted fruit
    Author: Ivan Lätti
    Photographer: Judd Kirkel Welwitch

    Silvery hairs serving as dispersal aids steal the show when Pelargonium longicaule forms fruit. When the elongated fruit twists at the awn end from getting wet, the spiral-tailed seed may manage to cover itself with soil from the twisting caused by the moisture. Drying out makes the structure uncoil, twisting back. These are the two repeatable manoeuvres the fruit has for self-burial and a possible long life as a new plant (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Manning, 2007; Manning and Goldblatt, 1996; iNaturalist; https://www.worldfloraonline.org).

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