Gumweed gone to seed and drying out
Yesterday you saw a flower head of gumweed (Grindelia sp.). Now here’s what one looks like after it has gone to seed and begun to dry out. I originally assumed that the conspicuous object at the upper left is a seed from this plant, but it seems so large and incongruous, and I’ve often enough seen a seed from one kind of plant get stuck on another, that now I don’t know. If any native plant people can help out here, please do.
Like the last photograph, today’s comes from an extant parcel of the Blackland Prairie along Old Settlers Blvd. at Greenhill Dr. in Round Rock on July 14th.
© 2013 Steven Schwartzman
Good morning. I’m not an expert on native plants. From firsthand experience, I know that many of the seeds are armed with barbs and hooks to snag passers and aid in their spread and survival. There could be something like that going on. I did some weed whacking yesterday behind the house. Some of them got my socks. 🙂
Jim in IA
August 6, 2013 at 7:10 AM
My socks know all too well about becoming unasked transporters of seeds (especially those of the alien invasive Torilis arvensis). In this case, the snagging could be helped along from both ends: a barb on the seed, plus the pointy and curling bracts of the gumweed, along with any of its residual goo (hence the name gumweed).
Steve Schwartzman
August 6, 2013 at 7:23 AM
The map I saw for Torilis arvensis shows it in 1 central IA county. That seems to be about the northern limit in the midwest. We don’t need it.
Jim in IA
August 6, 2013 at 7:32 AM
No, you definitely don’t need it. More than two decades before I became interested in plants per se, I became all too aware of Torilis arvensis’s seeds, bunches of which I had to remove from my socks and shoelaces after I came home from photo sessions in nature. One way I occasionally head off the problem now when I anticipate having to walk through a bunch of the stuff is to wear hip-high rubber boots; they’re good for more than keeping out water.
Steve Schwartzman
August 6, 2013 at 7:45 AM
I really like the lighting and angle on this. This photo has a very different look to it.
iseebeautyallaroundbyrobpaine
August 6, 2013 at 8:39 AM
As the French say, Vive la différence! It’s a challenge to come up with new ways to portray a subject, so I’m glad you like this different look.
Steve Schwartzman
August 6, 2013 at 9:14 AM