A Few Seeds

Most of the fluffy seeds of milkweed and dogbane are scattered by now but there were a few caught in the pod that I noticed last weekend. Based on the shape of the seeds – these are probably dogbane rather than milkweed.

With all the stiff breezes we’ve had recently, the parachutes of these seeds must be very  firmly attached to the pod; most of the seeds flew away last fall shortly after the pods split open.

I like the bright white of the fibers – the puffs made by the stuck ends of the fibers at one end and the seed on the other…the ones on the others side that have half their fibers free of the pod. The deep red color of the outside of the pods contracts nicely with the lighter color of the inside.

…savoring the little serendipity of a hike!