Herpochoria

Ordinary pasque flower in the backlight - it is one of the plants that herpochor can spread

The Herpochorie also Euautochorie , seed dispersal by the active movement of Bodenkriechern, is a spread strategy , use the plants to their diasporas spread especially at close range.

Plants that use this strategy produce seeds and fruits that are endowed with at least one long hairy awn. This awn spreads when it dries out and lies down again when it absorbs water due to increased humidity or rain. In weather where dry and wet periods alternate, the diaspores move a few centimeters above the ground due to these hygroscopic properties.

The plant species in which this strategy can be observed include, among others, the tiger's beak and the pasque flower .

The herpochory, like the barochory , the ballochory and the blastochory, is a sub-form of the autochory , which botanically describes the self- propagation mechanisms of plants.

literature

• Angelika Lüttig, Juliane Kasten: Rose hip & Co - blossoms, fruits and spread of European plants. Fauna Verlag, Nottuln 2003, ISBN 3-935980-90-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ecology. Vol. XIV, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1933, p. 226, archive.org .