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On my planet Chlorea there are desserts and in them is a tree-like plant. During the dry season nothing really happens; the plant saves water, they lose leaves to save water etc. But in the wet season they bear fruit so the animals can eat the fruit and the seed that the animals secretes later on would find soil and water during the wet season and grow. But in some cases the rain doesn't come, so in order to breed or spread the seeds, they have a stalk that grows next to where the fruit would be attached and when rain comes or the times right they shoot them into the air to spread or creatures get them when eating the fruit that's leftover. Is this a good method or is it too complex and can a plant have fruit and spores? (edit)-why does this have 1k i didnt think it would go this far

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  • $\begingroup$ IMHO the questionable part is that the plants would be wasting/investing a LOT of energy/water in a time where that is very scarce AND the seeds would have no chance of germinating until the next rain season anyways $\endgroup$
    – Hobbamok
    Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 14:30
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    $\begingroup$ this is as a form of last resort i dosent happen often they only do it in hoping of spreading there seeds to other places and habitats $\endgroup$
    – Erik Sanchez
    Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 14:33
  • $\begingroup$ think of them like dandalions or a from of that $\endgroup$
    – Erik Sanchez
    Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 14:33
  • $\begingroup$ ahhhh, ok as a form of last resort it makes sense. I now remember reading that (0 sources) a lot of irl plants do that as well: a last suicide-bloom $\endgroup$
    – Hobbamok
    Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 14:35
  • $\begingroup$ Some fungi have a similar spore-launching mechanism: launch happens around 4 min mark $\endgroup$
    – user170231
    Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 20:10

3 Answers 3

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB0P3mx_lxY Should give some good ideas. As a marine scientist all I can think of are the many things underwater that use dispersal, however that is useless in this case. The video covers multiple plants that explode their seeds.

  1. Violet flowers push out seeds as they dry due to the pressure of the seed pod
  2. Touch me nots release built up pressure on contact as the case curls back and off the stem
  3. The squirting cucumber as mentioned by another answer
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  • $\begingroup$ me watches video also me WRITE THAT DOWN WRITE THAT DOWN $\endgroup$
    – Erik Sanchez
    Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 21:24
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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to Worldbuilding.SE! Currently, this is a link-only answers, and those are frowned upon here. If anything ever happens to that linked video, your answer will become useless. While Erik may be taking notes, Stack Exchange answers are meant to be for anyone else who comes here in the future with the same problem, not just the OP. Would you be able to edit your answer to summarise the information within, and explain how it answers the question? $\endgroup$
    – F1Krazy
    Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 21:43
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Yes, there are some natural instances where seeds "explode" away from the main plant.

It might actually be the "multiple modes of dispersal" that is the harder-to-evolve idea; though maybe the "squirting cucumber" isn't too far off from the edible/explode-able fruit that you have in mind.

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  • $\begingroup$ the only reason they explode is as a form of last resort like if it is dying from lack of water it will use all its energy to explode the seeds in the air or near a animal feeding off it to spread and thanks for the cucumber i could use it as a new fruit design $\endgroup$
    – Erik Sanchez
    Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 3:42
  • $\begingroup$ Meanwhile here on Earth, exploding watermelons! bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13421374 $\endgroup$
    – nigel222
    Commented Oct 20, 2021 at 12:39
  • $\begingroup$ yeah but that was with chemicals $\endgroup$
    – Erik Sanchez
    Commented Oct 20, 2021 at 12:47
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There are plants on earth that do this. I'd suspect that an alien plant would be able to as well.

The sandbox tree produces a fruit that explosively distributes it's seeds up to 100m when fully ripened. This fruit hasn't evolved to be very appetizing to animals, in fact the sap is used to poison arrows but there's no reason for your made up plant to be so toxic.

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  • $\begingroup$ thank you for the informating it has been helpful and the plants are not toxic $\endgroup$
    – Erik Sanchez
    Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 3:38

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