VanCleave's Science Fun

Your Guide to Science Projects, Fun Experiments, and Science Research

  • Home
  • ASK JANICE
  • Teacher Guide
  • Homeschool Science For Kids
Home » The Fastest Moving Plant

The Fastest Moving Plant

By Janice VanCleave

To date, the fastest moving plant is the White Mulberry (Morus alba).

The flower of this mulberry tree shoots pollen at speeds around 200 meters per second.

The flower is able to shoot pollen so quickly because its stamens work like medieval catapults.

How a Catapult Works

A catapult is known as a trebuchet, which has a throwing arm with a hinge or strap holding the object to be launched into the air.

For the flower, the stamens are the throwing arms, which are held in place by the flower’s petals. The petals are elastic and can suddenly flip backward causing the stamens to snap forward. Attached to the stamens are containers of pollen. When the stamen snap forward, the containers of pollen are snapped forward causing the pollen to be shoot out.

The pollen lands up to 6 cm away from the plant. The entire process takes about  25?s (read as 25 microsecond or 25 one-millionth of a second).

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Filed Under: Biology, Plants Tagged With: plant movement

Topic Search

Visitors From All Over the World


Welcome to Janice’s Science Extravaganza!

The spoon hanging from the string vibrates when struck and these vibrations are transmitted through the string and the sound is amplified by the plastic cups. ABOUT ME: Hi, I am Janice VanCleave, author of 50 best-selling science experiment books for children ages 4 through high school. I taught science for 27 years. MORE.....

Copyright © 2025 · Janice Van Cleave · JVC's Science Fair Projects · Log in