Alsomitra macrocarpa
When looking into how different organisms use flight, trees and plants are often overlooked because the main body of the plant or tree never moves throughout its lifetime. However, when fully understanding the lifecycle of a plant it is important to look at seed dispersal, as the movement of the fruit or seed in most species through flight. One notable example is Alsomitra macrocarpa; Alsomitra macrocarpa are found deep in the forests of Java, Indonesia and use seeds that have wings to aid dispersal. They take the form of gliders. Competition between species in a densely packed area such as forests is high, and the need to reach the top of the canopy for plants is imperative in order to catch the most light. For a vine, this means that they must climb the trees, but then how do they disperse their seeds? The Alsomitra macrocarpa is a vine that climbs trees in the tropical forest, when the vines reach the canopy and the sunlight it grows pods, which contains hundreds of winged seeds. These pods can be seen in the images below.