A literal podcast

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And now, after a four-part foray into fields of bright wildflowers, we return to milkweed. When I stopped along E. 51st St. on May 14 to photograph the Liatris mucronata that had unexpectedly flowered there, I also found that a pod of antelope-horns, Asclepias asperula, had matured enough to pop open and begin casting forth its seeds. As you see in this closeup, the seeds are more or less flat but prone to curve and twist somewhat, so that they look a bit like minuscule potato chips. Silky fibers attached to the seeds let the wind easily carry off the little featherweight bundles.

© 2012 Steven Schwartzman