Field of Science

Plant Porn

One of the big problems faced by early land plants is they retained the swimming sperm of their algal ancestors, a problem that was finally solved by the seed habit. Sperm are small so even swimming short distances to find an egg to fertilize is quite a challenge, but this also means that even a film of water, the morning dew, can provide an adequate aquarium for sperm to swim in, and lacking vascular tissue, such bryophytic plants conduct water along their surface rather than through their interior. But at the great risk to the Phactor’s reputation for wholesome botany, check out this link for some liverwort porn. Clouds of sperm ejaculated, atomized some 15 cm into the air capable of fertilizing any and all females in the vicinity. These are real porn stars of the plant kingdom. Oh, did the Phactor mention that the biggest sperm were also found in the plant kingdom?

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