Milk Pods open showing parachute seeds
Another plant family which has evolved this parachute method of seed dispersal is the Milkweed Family (Asclepiadaceae). Hundreds of parachute seeds (each with a tuft of silky hairs) are produced within large, inflated pods called follicles. So abundant are the silky hairs, that they were actually collected and used as a substitute for kapok during World War II. Kapok comes from masses of silky hairs that line the seed capsules of the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra), an enormous rain forest tree of Central and South America. Kapok is used primarily as a waterproof filler for mattresses, pillows, upholstery, softballs, and especially for life preservers
Size: 5028px × 3339px
Location: Moraine Hills State Park, McHenry, Illinois, USA
Photo credit: © Chuck Eckert / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: autumn, blow, botany, dispersal, disperse, field, float, grasses, hills, illinois, milk, moraine, nature, outdoors, parachute, parachutes, park, plants, pod, pollination, prairie, release, science, seasons, seeds, wind-blown
