Written by Doug Johnson

For many plant species, the development of pods that encapsulate seeds is a useful and necessary adaptation. The pods protect the nascent seeds from pests, and in some cases, the pod actively provides nutrients to the seeds to help them develop. Some scientists believe that the seeds also signal the plants to let them know if a seed or set of seeds has stopped being viable and thus to stop sending nutrients to them.

Around the world, humans and other animals consume seeds and in some cases their pods for sustenance, many of them providing protein, fat, fiber and various minerals and vitamins. Seed pods can appear on trees, shrubs, garden plants and agricultural crops.

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