Seed hair

Asclepias seeds with seed hairs

Seeds of Calotropis gigantea

As seed hairs are trichomes called that result from epidermal cells of plant seeds form. The most well-known seed hairs are cotton fibers or kapok fibers .

Seed fibers have the function of the seeds over long distances with the wind spread ( Anemochorie ). They can also serve to make the seeds buoyant ( hydrochory ) or they can form hooks so that the seeds can adhere ( epichory ).

Internationally, seed hairs or a head of seeds are also referred to as a coma .

The pappus of the daisy family is not a seed hair because it is formed from the sepals and adheres to the pericarp . The achenes of the plane trees and bulrushes have a permanent stylus and a basal or stalked head of hair, but this originated from the perianth or scales or from the perigone and must also be demarcated.

Field with ripe cotton
Seed hair, mop of hair, at the tip near the seeds of the star jasmine
Various hairy seeds: a. Epilobium (seed hairs)
b. Unequal pappus at Thrincia hirta
c. Tamarix (seed hairs)
d. Salix (seed hairs)
e. Eriophorum (hair from the perianth; no pappus, no seed hair)
f. Typha (head of hair from the perigon; no pappus, no seed hair)
Seeds of Alstonia scholaris with double tufts of hair on both sides
Seeds of Strophanthus hispidus with seed hairs, crown of hair on a "support", awn ; No. 10a (top left)
Oleander seeds

Individual evidence

^ Peter Sitte , Elmar Weiler , Joachim W. Kadereit , Andreas Bresinsky , Christian Körner : Textbook of botany for universities . Founded by Eduard Strasburger . 35th edition. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg 2002, ISBN 3-8274-1010-X .
^ L. van der Pijl : Principles of Dispersal in Higher Plants. 3rd Edition, Springer, 1982, ISBN 978-3-642-87927-2 (reprint), pp. 59, 64, 73, 85, 141.
^ Theodor CH Cole: Dictionary of Biology Dictionary of Biology: German / English. 4th edition, Springer, 2015, ISBN 978-3-642-55327-1 , p. 386.
↑ Vít Bojnanský, Agáta Fargašová: Atlas of Seeds and Fruits of Central and East-European flora. Springer, 2007, ISBN 978-1-402-05362-7 , p. XXIV.
↑ James Cullen : Handbook of North European Garden Plants. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2001, ISBN 0-521-65183-2 , p. 223.
↑ Epilobium in the Flora of China, Vol. 13.
↑ Klaus Kubitzki et al. a .: The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Vol. IV, Springer, 1998, ISBN 978-3-642-08378-5 (reprint), p. 150.
^ JH Schaffner : Duplicate Evolution of Peculiar Perianth Structures in the Sedge Family and the Composites: Studies in Determinate Evolution, VIII. In: The Ohio Journal of Science. 34 (5), 1934, pp. 306-315, online at hdl.handle.net, accessed on August 9, 2018.
↑ Strophanthus hispidus . In: Gustav Pabst (Ed.): Köhler's medicinal plants in lifelike images with brief explanatory texts . tape 2 . Franz Eugen Köhler, Gera-Untermhaus, publication number 194 (panel no. 194 , panel description on p. 194) ( biodiversitylibrary.org [accessed on August 11, 2018]).

[1] Peter Sitte , Elmar Weiler , Joachim W. Kadereit , Andreas Bresinsky , Christian Körner : Textbook of botany for universities . Founded by Eduard Strasburger . 35th edition. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg 2002, ISBN 3-8274-1010-X .

[2] L. van der Pijl : Principles of Dispersal in Higher Plants. 3rd Edition, Springer, 1982, ISBN 978-3-642-87927-2 (reprint), pp. 59, 64, 73, 85, 141.

[3] Theodor CH Cole: Dictionary of Biology Dictionary of Biology: German / English. 4th edition, Springer, 2015, ISBN 978-3-642-55327-1 , p. 386.

[4] Vít Bojnanský, Agáta Fargašová: Atlas of Seeds and Fruits of Central and East-European flora. Springer, 2007, ISBN 978-1-402-05362-7 , p. XXIV.

[5] James Cullen : Handbook of North European Garden Plants. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2001, ISBN 0-521-65183-2 , p. 223.

[6] Epilobium in the Flora of China, Vol. 13.

[7] Klaus Kubitzki et al. a .: The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Vol. IV, Springer, 1998, ISBN 978-3-642-08378-5 (reprint), p. 150.

[8] JH Schaffner : Duplicate Evolution of Peculiar Perianth Structures in the Sedge Family and the Composites: Studies in Determinate Evolution, VIII. In: The Ohio Journal of Science. 34 (5), 1934, pp. 306-315, online at hdl.handle.net, accessed on August 9, 2018.

[Köhler194-9] Strophanthus hispidus . In: Gustav Pabst (Ed.): Köhler's medicinal plants in lifelike images with brief explanatory texts . tape 2 . Franz Eugen Köhler, Gera-Untermhaus, publication number 194 (panel no. 194 , panel description on p. 194) ( biodiversitylibrary.org [accessed on August 11, 2018]).