A photo from open sources
As a result of researching an exotic Chinese plant, scientists have concluded that it can with incredible speed shoot your seeds up to 18 meters.
In China, this plant is called Hamamelis mollis, which means witch hazel. Do not be surprised at this unusual the name of the plant, since in China for a long time developed folk medicine that used this plant for preparation medicinal potions. Since then, such exotic names and preserved.
So, this same witch hazel is able to shoot with seeds, whose speed in flight reaches 12 meters per second. Just this the speed of a bullet is not a modern small weapon, but a musket 19 century.
After a year from the moment of pollination, ripen in the hazel hard fruits. Using MRI, scientists noticed that before by releasing seeds, the outer layer of the fruit contracts as if the spring, and the inside of the fetus expands at the same time. So in the middle part of the fetus, pressure and seeds increase with unusual crash fly out.
During the flight, the seeds rotate at a speed of 26,000 revolutions per minute, which allows the seeds to stabilize in flight. it rotation is like the rotation of a bullet fired from a rifled barrel small arms. According to researchers, this plant can “shoot” seeds up to 18 meters.
Andrey Vetrov
China Plants
