“Eat Me” says the Plant

Plants are dependent in nature on the animals that spread their seeds far and wide. The survival of the species demands that the plant make it’s fruit as appealing to the animal that will allow the seeds to be dispersed  over a large area. A fact that has been observed and studied by  evolutionary ecologist Kim Valenta from Duke University.

Red berries, and orange figs are found commonly in the rain forest canopy over Kibale National Park in Uganda. While in the rain forests of Madagascar’s Ranomafana National Park you are likely to find yellow berries, green figs and fragrant ripe fruit. Each plant makes it a point to have fruit that stand out clearly in the environment so that the animals such as monkeys, apes, birds and lemurs are able to access them quickly and easily.

A scientific analysis of the fruit and foliage colors with a spectrometer revealed to the researchers that each fruit was optimized against their natural backdrops. They also met the demands of the visual systems of their primary seed dispensers. That is to say that the fruits were always in colors of the visual spectrum of the animals that would eat them. It’s quite like the plant tagging on a giant “Eat Me” sign to ensure that the seeds are scattered.