Friday, October 14, 2005

Seeds

Collected from our yard...

These seeds caught my eye as my wife and I took our morning walk with the dogs. I have no idea what the plant is.

The thing that caught my eye at first was the symmetry (more obvious on some of the seeds still on the plant) -- perfect four-pointed "stars" with "layers" of seeds. Upon closer examination I saw something more curious, though. Each seed has a tuft of fibers coming out of it, presumably to catch the breeze and disperse the seeds. The fibers for each seed are being pulled from two of the spoke structures -- this is what produces the symmetrical form that first caught my eye.

What an elaborate setup!

As usual, click on the picture for a larger view...

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