Myrmecochory
Many little feet
up and down my stalks, laying
down scent, wish they didn't.
But they take my gifts,
my best work offered this spring
to the whole wide world,
small pulsing dark bits
of promise, planning, singing
dreams of future life.
myrmecochory: the dispersal of fruits and seeds by ants
May 9, 2010 12:00 PM
The seeds cooperate with the ants, typically providing a "fruit" called an elaiosome on the seed which is attractive, or else the actual fruits are attractive. In the photo above, copyrighted by Rufino Osorio in 2010 *click here* the white material on the side of each seed is the elaiosome, present as they freshly open and which will dry up and disappear shortly - though not before the ants help themselves to the attractive stuff and help the plant by spreading the seeds to other locations in the forest.
The plant in the photo is Virginia Snakeroot (Aristolochia Serpentaria).
I finally saw that you removed word verification, which actually prevented me from commenting for a long while. (Something about the Name/URL thing not working.) So now I can say: the Greco word that was your jumping off point is utterly enchanting, and the way you interpreted it just as much so. Kudos!
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