The flame tree

The flame tree Delonix regia does not rely on fire but shoots its seeds through the air when the two sides of its long pods crack apart explosively on drying.[82] The miniature cone-like catkins of alder trees produce seeds that contain small droplets of oil that help disperse the seeds on the surface of water. Mangroves often grow in water and some species have propagules, which are buoyant fruits with seeds that start germinating before becoming detached from the parent tree.[86][87] These float on the water and may become lodged on emerging mudbanks and successfully take root.[82]

Cracked thorny skin of a Aesculus tree seed
Other seeds, such as apple pips and plum stones, have fleshy receptacles and smaller fruits like hawthorns have seeds enclosed in edible tissue; animals including mammals and birds eat the fruits and either discard the seeds, or swallow them so they pass through the gut to be deposited in the animal’s droppings well away from the parent tree. The germination of some seeds is impr

oved when they are processed in this way.[88] Nuts may be gathered by animals such as squirrels that cache any not immediately consumed.[89] Many of these caches are never revisited, the nut-casing softens with rain and frost, and the seed germinates in the spring.[90] Pine cones may similarly be hoarded by red squirrels, and grizzly bears may help to disperse the seed by raiding squirrel caches.[91]

The single extant species of Ginkgophyta (Ginkgo biloba) has fleshy seeds produced at the ends of short branches on female trees,[92] and Gnetum, a tropical and subtropical group of gymnosperms produce seeds at the tip of a shoot axis.[93]