Drift seed
Encyclopedia
Drift seeds and drift fruits are seeds and fruits adapted for long distance dispersal
by water. Most are produced by tropical trees, and they can be found on distant beaches after drifting thousands of miles through ocean current
s. Consequently, drift seeds and fruits are of interest to scientists who study these currents.
In botanical terminology, a drift fruit is a kind of diaspore
, and drift seeds and fruits are disseminules.
.
Seed dispersal
Seed dispersal is the movement or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and consequently rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their propagules, including both abiotic and biotic vectors. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant...
by water. Most are produced by tropical trees, and they can be found on distant beaches after drifting thousands of miles through ocean current
Ocean current
An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water generated by the forces acting upon this mean flow, such as breaking waves, wind, Coriolis effect, cabbeling, temperature and salinity differences and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun...
s. Consequently, drift seeds and fruits are of interest to scientists who study these currents.
In botanical terminology, a drift fruit is a kind of diaspore
Diaspore (botany)
In botany, a diaspore is a plant dispersal unit consisting of a seed or spore plus any additional tissues that assist dispersal. In some seed plants, the diaspore is a seed and fruit together, or a seed and elaiosome. In a few seed plants, the diaspore is most or all of the plant, known as a...
, and drift seeds and fruits are disseminules.
Sources of drift seeds
- Caesalpinia bonducCaesalpinia bonducCaesalpinia bonduc, commonly known as Gray Nicker, is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, that has a pantropical distribution. It is a vine-like shrub that reaches a length of and scrambles over other vegetation. Stems are covered in curved spines...
- Grey NickernutNickernutNickernuts or nickar nuts are smooth, shiny seeds from tropical leguminous shrubs, particularly Caesalpinia bonduc and C. major, both known by the common name warri tree. C. bonduc produces gray nickernuts, and C. major produces yellow... - Caesalpinia major - Yellow Nickernut
- CarapaCarapaCarapa is a genus in the mahogany family Meliaceae. The c. 25 species become medium-sized to large trees to 30 m tall, occurring in tropical South America and Africa; common names for include Andiroba and Crabwood.-Species:...
guianensis - Crabwood (New World tropics) - Entada gigasEntada gigasEntada gigas, commonly known as the Cœur de la Mer or Sea Heart, is a species of flowering liana in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America, and Africa. It is notable for having the family's largest seedpods, which measure across and can...
- Seaheart, (New World tropics) - Entada rheediiEntada rheediiEntada rheedii, commonly known as the African Dream Herb or Snuff Box Sea Bean, is a large woody liana or climber. It is often spelled as Entada rheedei, though the first and legitimate name was published as E. rheedii...
- Snuff Box Sea Bean, from the tropics of the Indian OceanIndian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and... - Erythrina fuscaErythrina fuscaErythrina fusca is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is known by many common names, including purple coraltree, gallito, bois immortelle, bucayo, and the more ambiguous "bucare" and "coral bean". E...
- Bucayo (Pantropical) - Erythrina variegataErythrina variegataErythrina variegata is a species of Erythrina native to the tropical and subtropical regions of eastern Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, northern Australia, and the islands of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean east to...
- Tiger Claw (Old World tropics) - MucunaMucunaMucuna is a genus of around 100 accepted species of climbing vines and shrubs of the family Fabaceae, found worldwide in the woodlands of tropical areas....
spp. - Ox-eye Bean, Hamburger Seed, Deer-eye Bean - OrmosiaOrmosiaOrmosia is a genus of legumes . The more than 110 living species, mostly trees or large shrubs, are distributed throughout the tropical regions of the world, some extending into temperate zones, especially in East Asia. A few species are threatened by habitat destruction, while the Hainan Ormosia...
spp. - Horse-eye Bean, from the tropics - Terminalia catappaTerminalia catappaTerminalia catappa is a large tropical tree in the Leadwood tree family, Combretaceae. The tree has been spread widely by humans and the native range is uncertain. It has long been naturalised in a broad belt extending from Africa to Northern Australia and New Guinea through Southeast Asia and...
- Tropical Almond, from the tropics of Asia
Sources of drift fruits
- Barringtonia asiaticaBarringtonia asiaticaBarringtonia asiatica is a species of Barringtonia native to mangrove habitats on the tropical coasts and islands of the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean from Zanzibar east to Taiwan, the Philippines, Fiji, New Caledonia, the Cook Islands, Wallis and Futuna and French Polynesia...
- Box Fruit, from PolynesiaPolynesiaPolynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs... - Cocos nuciferaCoconutThe coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
- Coconut, from the tropics - Grias cauliflora - Anchovy pear, from the tropicsTropicsThe tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
of the New WorldNew WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle... - Heritiera littoralisHeritiera littoralisHeritiera littoralis, the looking-glass mangrove is a large tree with wing shaped nuts, which is most easily recognised by the silvery scales on the underside of its leaves, which therefore appear green from top and white from below, although Litsea mellifera A.C. Smith , has the same type of leaves....
- Puzzle Fruit, from Southeast AsiaSoutheast AsiaSoutheast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic... - Lodoicea maldiviaCoco de merThe Coco de Mer , the sole member of the genus Lodoicea, is a palm endemic to the islands of Praslin and Curieuse in the Seychelles. It formerly also was found on St Pierre, Chauve-Souris and Ile Ronde in the Seychelles group, but has become extinct on these islands...
- Coco de Mer, from the SeychellesSeychellesSeychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar.... - Manicaria sacciferaManicariaManicaria saccifera , a palm species which is found in Trinidad, Central and South America. It is the sole member of the genus Manicaria. It has one of the largest known leaves in the plant kingdom .Manicaria thrives in swamps or estuarine areas where river meets ocean...
- Sea Coconut, from South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east... - PandanusPandanusPandanus is a genus of monocots with about 600 known species. They are numerous palmlike dioecious trees and shrubs native of the Old World tropics and subtropics. They are classified in the order Pandanales, family Pandanaceae.-Overview:...
spp. - Screw Pines, from the Old WorldOld WorldThe Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
tropics
Research
Enthusiasts founded an annual convention in 1996, the International Sea-bean Symposium, dedicated to the display, study, and dissemination of information concerning drift seeds and other flotsamFlotsam and jetsam
In maritime law, flotsam, jetsam, lagan and derelict describe specific kinds of wreck.The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage....
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External links
- http://www.seabean.com International Sea-bean Symposium
- http://www.seaheart.com/ Polished Seabean Jewlerey