Friday fabulous Flowers: at the stage of seed dispersal

Our Magnolia virginiana, sweet bay, flowered well for pollen dispersal, now the flowers are at the stage of seed dispersal, a gentle reminder of what a fruit really is.  The fruits are an aggregate cone-like fruit that is basically green and protective, so not very attractive, but then the individual fruitlets dehisce rather like little milkweed pods exposing bright red-orange seeds that sometimes dangle on a thread. The actual fruit continues to dry out and turn brown. The seed coats are actually dark brown but covered by a fleshy red-orange aril that contains quite a bit of lipid, just what birds need as they get ready for a southerly migration, which is exactly what these seeds are advertising. 
From our kitchen table it was obvious a flock of birds was after this food source, and it took awhile for us to figure out who was there.  Turned out to be a mixed flock of Swainson's thrushes and red-eyed vireos.  This morning all the seeds exposed were gone; there will be more.  Successful dispersal was achieved!

Seed dispersal display

Fruits are flowers at the stage of seed dispersal.  As such many have attractive displays for the purpose of attracting seed dispersers with the promise of a reward, either the edible fruit itself or a fleshy seed coat, or a fleshy tissue surrounding the seed, an aril.  Here's the seed dispersal display of a sweet bay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana).  Magnolias have many pistils in each flower and each makes a fruitlet, usually a tough little dry follicle that opens along one seam to release or reveal one or two aril-covered seed.  The bright orange-red fleshy aril is both the visual attraction and the reward, the seed has a dark-brown tough seed coat. The seeds actually dangle on a thread to attract even more attention from birds who after digesting off the aril regurgitate the seed.  Displays like this can last days, and disappear quickly when a flock of cedar waxwings stop by.