Both sides now, again

 

A couple of comments about this morning’s photograph seemed to call for a follow-up, so now that you’ve had a chance to contemplate the surface of a pod produced by Matelea reticulata, the pearl milkweed vine, here’s a look at the opposite side of the same pod you saw last time. No one’s mother does a better job of packing this slender suitcase—or more accurately seedcase—than Mother Nature, as you can tell from the contents partly visible through the widening slit.

This photograph once again comes from December 3rd along Great Northern Blvd.

© 2014 Steven Schwartzman

Another podcast

In the last post you saw a flower of the pearl milkweed vine, Matelea reticulata, and now here’s a look at the kind of pod that this species produces. Just as the flower has an interesting pattern on it, so is the pod interestingly textured, both in its surface design and its pointy protrusions. The dark spots appear to be tiny spiders, mites, or ticks (though I’m glad to say I didn’t get ticked off).

Like the previous photograph, this one comes from December 3rd along Great Northern Blvd.

© 2014 Steven Schwartzman