Factoid

[Doug Yanega]

Mary Barkworth asked:

>if
>someone knows of a faster seed, I would like to hear of it.

I could swear I've heard that some mistletoes fired their seeds tens of
meters, and that they were coated with a glue-like substance so they would
stick where they hit. That would imply a pretty high velocity. I doubt the
coiled-spring pods of legumes like Lathyrus generate quite 60 mph shots,
and definitely not pods like Oxalis or Impatiens. But I do wonder how one
goes about measuring the speed, exactly.

Peace,

Doug Yanega    Depto. de Biologia Geral, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas,
Univ. Fed. de Minas Gerais, Cx.P. 486, 30.161-970 Belo Horizonte, MG   BRAZIL
phone: 031-449-2579, fax: 031-441-5481  (from U.S., prefix 011-55)
                  http://www.icb.ufmg.br/~dyanega/
  "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
        is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82