A new plant that buries its seeds has been discovered in the Brazilian forest of Bahia by an international team of scientists.
When new seeds form on the Spigelia genuflexa plant, the branches bearing the seeds bend down, depositing the seed capsules on the ground, sometimes burying them in soft moss. This process is known as geocarpy.
Burying seeds in the ground ensures they are as close to the “mother plant” as possible, facilitating propagation the following season.
Other species, such as peanuts, also practise geocarpy.
Read more at Rutgers University