Chris Roh ’12 became interested in dandelions on walks with his toddler, picking the fluffy white spheres and blowing off their seeds.
Chris Roh ’12 became interested in dandelions on walks with his toddler, picking the fluffy white spheres and blowing off their seeds. An aerospace engineer by training, Roh wondered about the fluid dynamics of this everyday activity. Why did some seeds release before others? And why did some seem to require much greater force to release?
New research by Roh, assistant professor of biological and environmental engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and his colleagues has uncovered the basic structural mechanics of how dandelions release and retain their seeds, opening new research pathways to understand plant evolution and seed dispersal in other wind-dispersed plants, such as lettuce and cotton.
In a new paper published Sept. 10 in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, Roh and his co-authors report that dandelions respond to wind direction when releasing their seeds and have structures that make it harder for their seeds to release in unfavorable conditions. The first author of the paper is Jena Shields, a Ph.D. candidate in Roh’s lab.
Read More: Cornell University
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