What are the seeds of willow and how are they spread?

It is the seed of willow, with white fluff on it, which is scattered like catkins in the wind, so it is called catkins. Catkin dancing in spring is the way to spread seeds.

Willow fruit is a capsule. When it is mature, it has two valves and contains many seeds. The seed has a tuft of hair, which is catkin in plain English. Grab a group of catkins and observe them carefully, and you will find some small particles inside, which are willow seeds. Willow settled by spreading its seeds far away by flying catkins. Like most plants that spread seeds by the wind, the survival rate of seeds after falling is very low.

There are many ways to spread plant seeds, such as autobiography, water transmission and bird transmission. One of them is spread by the wind. Some seeds or fruits will grow hair or wing-like structures, which will float far away when the wind blows.

Plants with such seeds or fruits include common woody plants, such as willow and poplar, and seeds with feathery appendages. Once the fruit is ripe, it will crack and fly everywhere. This is the mystery of all kinds of flying flocs in spring.

Poplar and willow belong to Salicaceae, but there are strict differences in botany. They have many similarities. For example, there are caterpillar-like inflorescences (catkins), which are divided into male and female. When they mature, the whole inflorescence falls off, the fruit in the female inflorescence splits into two petals, and the seeds with white fluff float out with the wind.

Another example is "planting willows on the sand". Poplar and willow are easy to grow and live, so they can reproduce asexually. As long as a branch is broken and inserted in the soil, it is easy to take root and sprout. But long-term asexual reproduction will gradually weaken the vitality of poplar, so sometimes it is necessary to sow seedlings for sexual reproduction. But there are also many differences.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia Entries Catkin