How does a tree (or any plant, really), know to evolve to produce a delicious fruit or a poison berry, a seed inside an impenetrable shell, or invent a type of flying machine, in order to reproduce? (Each of these examples exists in my backyard)

How do they receive feedback about their evolutionary experiments? How do they know it worked/failed. [10]

  • NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    6 months ago

    Sierra Redwood can reproduce sexually (seeds in cones) as early as 24 years old, but one source I found said that seeds are usually not high-quality until the tree is 200+ years old.

    That’s quite interesting. And impressive, too!

    Thank you for looking it up.