The seed pod of the giant trillium forms into a capsule that turns a dark, rich purple-black. The seeds have a lipid-rich seed appendage known as an elaiosome which is an attractive food source to ants. I read that the ants will collect the seeds, take them back to their nest, remove the elaiosome and discard the seeds. This helps to disperse the seeds around the landscape.
With the seed pods I have been watching, the ants have been taking away the elaiosome and leaving the seed. The ants are small, so maybe it is easier to harvest the elaiosome on site and leave the seed. You can see some of the seeds caught in a spider web below one of the pods. So, these ants aren’t really dispersing them, besides releasing them from their pod.
I also imagined that the seed pod would mature, open, the seeds would spill out onto the ground, and then the ants would gather them. With these, it appears that the ants are tearing them open. Somehow they can sense the seeds are in there and that they are ready to harvest. Life is amazing.
