Fireweed seeds that fly in the wind use a tuft of silky hair or fluff attached to them called a coma, and the process of spreading via the wind is known as anemochory.

Studies show that between 20% and 50% of dispersing fireweed seeds get lifted into atmospheric currents more than 100 metres above the ground. These high-altitude seeds can drift across entire landscapes and geographic regions for several days before settling.

Because the seeds are incredibly light—averaging roughly 6.8 million seeds per pound—they stay suspended until air movement stops entirely, or until they encounter high humidity or rain, which causes their silky parachute plumes to contract and sink.

While a few lucky seeds travel hundreds of kilometres to colonize new wildfire burn scars, the vast majority of a single plant's 80,000 annual seeds drop much closer to home, heavily saturating the immediate surrounding area. ~ Various Sources


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