WONDER SEEDS

Plants produce dramatically different seeds – designed to reproduce in completely different ways

1 Old Man’s Beard Clematis vitalba Dispersed by wind, wild clematis seedheads are silvery, curling and silky haired, hence its common name of ‘Old Man’s Beard’.

2 Field poppy Papaver rhoeas

Ripe poppy capsules, buffeted by wind, shake their contents like pepper pots. The tiny seeds are eaten by birds.

3 Melancholy thistle Cirsium heterophyllum Like many other thistles, this beautiful plant has purple flowers that attract insects and fluffy seedheads that expand in windblown drifts.

4 Mole plant Euphorbia lathyris

This introduced euphorbia often pops up unexpectedly in gardens. Seed capsules split open with a loud snap on hot days.

5 Common spotted orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Dependant on a symbiotic fungal partner to germinate and grow, common spotted orchids produce many thousands of tiny windblown seeds.

6 Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus

Beautiful in their symmetry, sycamore seeds are a pair of V-shaped wings containing fruits that spiral down to the ground.

7 Horse chestnut Aesculus hippeastrum Gleaming mahogany conkers are encased inside spiky green husks. These glossy seeds are mildly toxic to humans, but can be eaten by deer and wild boar.

8 Rosebay willowherb

Chaemerion angustifolium

Seed capsule splits lengthways, with four sections curling backwards to release a mass of tiny feathered seeds that drift on the wind.

9 Marshmallow Althaea officinalis

The seedhead of marshmallow looks like a padded button. Pull it apart and it reveals neatly packed flat discs of seeds.