Red Seeds.

10-24-10 SHORT HILLS: So far we have had I cold night, no frost, but in the mid-thirties. [Where I’d like to be.] It has been dry, but rain is promised for this week. It’s pleasantly warm, T-shirt weather, if you’re working outside. I did move and extend a rock border to the bed with the southern magnolias and a bunch of other trees and shrubs including viburnums, yews, hollies, spireas, barberries, a dawn redwood and a hawthorn. As the bed gets bigger, I adjust the border.

While working around the magnolias, I was struck by the opening seed clusters. The seeds are brightly colored, red, as are so many berries in the yard—burning bush, spice bush, holly, barberry, viburnums, yew—to mention a few. Why does the plant invest in the bulky, vividly-colored seed coverings? Why not just put the DNA package out in the air or dump it on the ground? Why go to the expense of a fancy seed in what is always a tight economy for the plant?

I guess the answer is that the pretty wrappings make the seed look like a tasty present for the birds and, maybe the squirrels. If the animal eats the seed for its cover of carbohydrate, a day later it poops out the hard center of the seed, with the DNA, some place else and wrapped in a bit of fertilizer. That way the plant’s offspring get scattered around to new sites promoting the enhanced survival of the species. Since so many do it, it must be a successful strategy.


Southern Magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora, fruit ball with seeds.


Sugar Maple looks even sweeter today.