How violets get ants to spread their seeds

Kerstin Reifenrath, a biologist in Darmstadt, has deciphered the interaction between plant and helper. She found that elaiosomes – appendages on the violet seeds containing a cocktail of fatty acids, amino acids and sugars – are eaten by ants and slugs. However, the animals do not digest the seeds, which are able to germinate many meters away from the parent plant.