Endozoochory

Endozoochory [ Botany ]

Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

Dispersal through animal ingestion and excretion.

A bird eating a ripe seed pod of Stenocereus thurberi
(Photo by: Jürgen Menzel - California USA)

Endozoochory is a common highly effective mechanism in the dispersal of viable seeds. It is the transport of seeds inside of animal bodies. Animals ingest seeds and fruits and then pass them in their feces.

Although most plant lack the capacity to disperse seed by themselves to neighbouring areas, many species present widespread distributions thanks to the mobility of animals for the dispersal of pollen and seeds. For example diet studies of birds and grazing animals have shown that they consume and disperse large quantities of seeds from a wide variety of species.

The seeds of some plants actually require passage through an animal gut in order to germinate.

Some seeds adapted for endozoochory require scarification, the abrasion or chemical degradation of the seed coat that may be required by some species in order for the seeds to germinate

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Holdfast roots [ Botany ]
Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

Some species of climbing plants develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place.

Climbing plants, like the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), and trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place. Usually the Holdfast roots die at the end of the first season, but in some species they are perennial. In the tropics some of the large climbing plants have hold-fast roots by which they attach themselves, and long, cord-like roots that extend downward through the air and may lengthen and branch for several years until they strike the soil and become absorbent roots.

Major references and further lectures:
1) E. N. Transeau “General Botany” Discovery Publishing House, 1994