 These seeds come from a plant that is rarely grown from seed,
(Credit for the public domain photograph will be given in the answer when it is posted.)
Do you recognize what kind of plant these seeds are from? If you choose to, please leave a comment with your ideas.
Mystery Seed answers and new Mystery Seeds are posted on Tuesdays.
Edit:Â The answer is now posted.
Our dainty mystery seeds from last week were from forget-me-nots, Myosotis sp.
Forget-me-nots are “remembered” for their delicate pale blue flowers.
There are a number of different species. Some are annuals, biennials, and or short-lived perennials. Once established, they also readily re-seed in many areas.
My clearest memories of forget-me-nots are of patches of the cheery blue flowers that were growing along a small creek in the mountains of rural Pennsylvania, where I was visiting with my grandparents. Those plants were probably Myosotis scorpioides, the water or true forget-me-nots. The species was originally from Europe and Asia, but has naturalized throughout much of North America where they tend to concentrate along streams or creeks. In any case, they are part of some of my fondest childhood memories.
What do you remember about forget-me-nots?
Our discovery this week is due to some photogenic wild sunflowers.
I was taking a few photographs, when…
what is that tiny insect flying by?
There it is again. Can you spot it?
To give you scale, this is what it looks like on a sunflower petal (actually ray flower).
Talk about tiny! It is a parasitic wasp (Pteromalidae).
Why are tiny wasps hovering around a sunflower? It is possible that they are parasites of insects that visit sunflowers. Many species are parasites of insect eggs. It is also possible the wasps are feeding on nectar, although I saw no evidence of feeding. They also could be males waiting for females to visit.
What do you think these tiny wasps are doing?
For more information, see Roberta Gibson Writes.
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