Spreading Nature's Seeds

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - When you go for a walk and you or your doggie come home with seeds and burrs in your coat, you might find them annoying and just brush them away, but did you realize that you've just become part of Nature's seed dispersal system?

Since plants can't move they use different methods to spread their seeds further. Some plants, like dandelions and milkweed, wait for the wind (or a 3-year old) to start blowing and carry their seeds across your lawn and into your garden to settle and sprout. Other seeds, tucked inside tasty fruit, actually need to be swallowed and go through a digestive system before they can germinate and grow.

But plants with burrs or little spiked seeds use passing animals as their transportation, and stick to whatever brushes by - dogs, deer, rabbits, raccoons, or you. It's so effective, that finding burrs stuck to his clothes after hiking inspired the inventor of Velcro to create that clever hook and loop fastener. Just another example of Nature smartly showing us the way.

Reported By Phran Novelli, KYW Newsradio