Putterlickia pyracantha inside the capsule

The seed of the Putterlickia pyracantha fruit is partly enveloped by a fleshy aril, nearly covering it. The aril is pale here, usually orange.

Arils, like fleshy fruit parts generally, serve to entice potential dispersal agents to eat them. Ants carry aril-bearing seeds into their nests without ingesting the whole thing, the dispersal objective being achieved. Similarly, only the fleshy parts of stone fruit may be eaten by animals (and people), the plants contribution to feeding the hungry successful in getting its seed scattered.

But arils may be ingested together with their seeds, providing dispersal transport to unknown destinations while the seeds remain inside the alimentary canal of the consumer. Wherever the by then aril-free seed is deposited by the carrier, becomes the home where it may germinate and grow into a new plant if conditions permit.

Parental duties differ according to the requirements of the offspring of each living species. Those of plants stop roughly where the greater burdens of mammals begin (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997; Pooley, 1993; iSpot).