Seed mucilage (myxodiaspory) is an extremely widespread trait in thousands of species of plants, evolving multiple times in multiple lineages. When wetted, mucilage absorbs water and swells, releasing a complex matrix of sugars that after drying, generally anchors seeds strongly to substrates. You might have interacted with them via chia (Salvia hispanica) and flax (Linum usitatissimum). With such diverse morphologies in diverse species, one may naturally wonder why such a trait is so prevalent across the tree of life? Under what ecological context did mucilage evolve? How may mucilage affect seeds in their environment? I tackle these questions by relying heavily on comparative approaches. I started working on these questions as a tech in the LoPresti Lab, but for reasons unknown to me, I am still working on them. I just kind of like them.
On loose substrates, seed mucilage can form a “sand-armor” that protects seeds from predation by diverse ganivore taxa (LoPresti et al. 2019, LoPresti et al. 2023). On hard substrates, the mucilage can glue seeds on the ground so firmly that granivores cannot pick them up (Pan et al. 2021). The highest dislodgment force on record is equivalent to lifting ~ 1 kg of weight! This anchorage ability also allows seeds to withstand high surface flow during a rain storm (Pan et al. 2022) and establish on cliffs challenged with erosive fog.