Killer seeds for the sake of early plant growth

This plant I am designing grows on earth, in locations where competition between plants is fierce, water is scarce and also nutrients in the soil are diluted. The dilution requires the plant roots to be developed at least in 1 cubic meter of ground to be able to sustain the plant life.

This plant has developed peculiar traits to succeed in this environments:

• roots secrete a growth inhibitor, to prevent other plants to grow close
• growth is fast in the first phase, to occupy the ground area until roots can sustain life. Then it slows down.
• the plants growing in an area can synchronize the blooming and fructification on periods of 17 years, by means of chemicals secreted by the leaves.
• the seed of the plant requires a bath in chloridric acid in order to develop (basically it has to go through the stomach of an animal)

In order to secure that seeds are spread away from the mother plant and to provide a boost of nutrients to the growing plant, the fruit of this plant is highly sweet, attracting animals from miles around thanks to smell. Once eaten the fruit releases, together with the seed into the stomach of the animal, a poison which stops peristaltic movements and kill the animal in 2-3 days. The rotting corpse will grant the growing seed the nutrients needed to develop the roots until the cubic meter mentioned above.

Is this a realistic mechanism?

posted about 7 years ago

L.Dutch - Reinstate Monica‭

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