Children ask, taz answers: Why can plants make their own seeds?

In addition to us humans, there are many other creatures with whom we share the earth. Of course, this also includes plants, which can have very different shapes and colors. They also breathe, grow and reproduce. How exactly they do all this is fundamentally different from us humans.

Most plants are tied to one place by their roots. So they can't go anywhere to feed themselves or to reproduce. Nevertheless, many new plants are emerging in numerous places. How does it work if they can't move at all like we can?

What you need to know is that plants are male, female or even both. Plants with male characteristics have so-called stamens, which produce flower dust - it is called "pollen". When bees or bumblebees land in such a flower, the pollen sticks to them. If the bees fly further, they take the pollen with them. Sometimes the wind just blows and carries the pollen along. This way they can get to the female flowers. The word for this is cross-pollination.

Many female flowers have an elongated thing in the middle called a pistil. When the male pollen arrives here, it travels down a tube to the inside of the plant. There they can combine with a female egg cell - a seed develops from it.

This text first appeared in wochentaz, our weekly newspaper from the left!

Every week, wochentaz is about the world as it is – and as it could be. A left-wing weekly newspaper with a voice, attitude and the special taz view of the world. New every Saturday at the kiosk and of course by subscription.

What's exciting is that some plants have only female or only male plant parts. But there are also many plants that have both, meaning they are male and female at the same time. These plants are called hermaphrodites. You can make your own seeds all by yourself. To do this, the pollen must also reach the female flower. And this can all happen on the same plant. For example, tomato plants with their yellow flowers are hermaphrodites - maybe they grow in your garden. They can pollinate themselves. If you cut the tomato open, you will see its seeds inside.

Seeds consist of a seed coat, nutrients and a seedling. This is something like a baby plant. It germinates when there is sufficient light, water, heat and oxygen. Many plants do not survive the winter. But when the weather gets nice again in spring, a new plant can grow from its seeds.