Do sycamore trees drop seeds?
Seed dispersal basically refers to movement of plant seeds from one point to another. In order for plants to start new colonies, they spread their seeds through a process called seed dispersal. Dispersal can take place through a number of ways including by the aid of animals, water, birds, wind and explosion.
Sycamore seeds look much like maple tree seeds, and they disperse in the same way. The wind catches the wing-like projections and spreads the seeds. They can also dispersed by animals and water.
Planting Sycamore Seed Germination will take place over approximately 15 days and a 4″ seedling will develop in less than 2 months under optimal conditions. These new seedlings then need to be carefully removed and transplanted from trays to small pots.
Pollination. Sycamore trees are wind-pollinated in the spring after both the inconspicuous male and female flowers have blossomed. Pollen from the male flower has to be carried to a neighbouring plant in order to be able to fertilise the female flowers.
Dispersal of seeds is very important for the survival of plant species. If plants grow too closely together, they have to compete for light, water and nutrients from the soil. Seed dispersal allows plants to spread out from a wide area and avoid competing with one another for the same resources.
Seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their propagules, including both abiotic vectors such as the wind and living vectors like birds.
First, by acting as a parachute, the speed at which the seed falls, is slowed down, making it stay longer in the air, giving it a longer time in the air, and a bigger gap in which to catch the wind. Then, the wings act like sails, helping the wind blow the seed further away.
Planting Sycamore Seed Sycamores are naturally sown in the spring and you should mimic those conditions. Seeds should be placed in soil no deeper than 1/8 inch with each seed about 6 to 8 inches apart for proper spacing. Potted trees can go for several years before re-potting or planting in the landscape.
Sycamore produces compact balls of tiny, single-sex flowers. The males and the females are in separate parts of the same tree. Wind pollination is the rule. When fertilized, the females develop into a round cluster of very light 1-seeded achenes.
Seed dispersal Plants disperse their seeds in lots of different ways. Some seeds are transported by the wind and are shaped to float, glide or spin through the air. Some seed pods are designed to explode and throw the seeds a good distance from the parent plant. Many plants also use animals to carry their seeds.
Why do sycamore seeds spin? When the helicopter shaped seed falls the air pushes upwards against it. The two arms get pushed in opposite directions, which makes the seed spin. This helps sycamore seeds to fall far from the tree so they have plenty of space to grow.
The American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) is a fast-growing deciduous tree hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 4 through 9. These seed balls appear on the sycamore tree in the winter and fall to the ground in the spring, where they open to disperse their seeds.
