Research from France has shed light on how certain plant spores move. Scientists at Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble have discovered that some tiny spores can 'walk' and jump.

Lead researcher Philippe Marmottant was the first person to document the new movement. Searching for new types of motion in plants, he observed spores from horsetail plants and saw that they appeared to be moving under their own power. However, it was only when he combined his observations under a microscope with high-speed photography that he was able to discover what they were doing.

Horsetail comes from the last genus in a line of plants that dominated the understory of forests almost 400 million years ago. The horsetail is thought to be related to ferns. It reproduces by emitting tiny spores rather than seeds.

The plant's spores are incredibly small, measuring a mere 50 micrometers or 0.005 cm.

Physicist Dr Marmottant said that changes in humidity caused spores' 'legs' – real name elaters – to extend and contract. He likened the curling and uncurling of the spores legs to human hair becoming curlier in more humid weather.

The legs' make-up gives them the speed and power needed to move the spore around; one side is made of a stiff material, whilst the other is spongier, meaning it contracts when it dries out. As a result, the spores can carry move under their own power, requiring only changes in humidity to disperse from their parent plant.

Marmottant added that spores were also observed to jump when their legs became entangled and unfurling them released stored up energy, like delivering a fillip using the fingers. In fact, the spores can jump up to 200 times their body length, allowing them to be picked up by wind currents and dispersed further still.  

Video credit: Philippe Marmottant