Botanical Briefing: Plants that Pop! with Bruce Holst

“Explosive dehiscence” is the scientific term for forcibly ejecting seed and spore from a parent plant. Join Bruce Holst, vice president for botany, to discover that plants are more active than most people think. Plants have developed innovative ways to disperse their seeds by way of gravity; by enticing animals with tasty and nutritious seeds who then ingest and spread them through their excretions; or by using water or air to distribute them even further. Some of these methods include shooting them out using mini cannons, via exploding or spring-loaded capsules, or splash pans. Using high-impact visuals, attendees will delight in these active mechanisms of plant seed and spore dispersal.