 Today we have some seed photographs provided by Anna at A Life Inspired by Nature.
Hint:Â These seeds are very appropriate for the season. They are from a plant that is no longer common and does not grow in Arizona.
Do you recognize what plant these seeds are from? If you choose to, please leave a comment with your ideas.
Thank you for sharing, Anna.
Our mystery seeds last week were from the common or greater plantain, Plantago major.
The greater plantain is a low-growing perennial plant that is variously considered a weed or a medicinal wonder.
The plant has a cluster of wide leaves with a few erect flower or seed stalks.
Originally from the Old World, it quickly followed the early European colonists to North America where it has become naturalized.
(Illustration in public domain from Wikimedia)
As with the rest of the plant, the flowers are small and easy to overlook.
In this public domain photograph from Steve Hurst (hosted by the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database) the seeds are orange, whereas our mystery seeds…
were gray to black. After checking, the UC IPM website indicates the seeds may be orange to black.
Plantain is often considered an ordinary weed, but it has long been used as a home remedy for a number of ailments. Recently scientists have found a pharmacy of potentially interesting biologically-active chemicals in plant extracts (this article, for example). Perhaps it is a small, common plant that deserves more attention.
Does greater plantain grow where you live? What have your experiences been with it?
This caterpillar has me stumped.
It is resting on a vining milkweed plant, although it might have crawled to there from some other type of plant nearby.
It looks like it has a single, spiky horn, which would be a sphinx moth of some sort. The head doesn’t look any sphinx moth I’ve seen.
Anyone have any ideas what it might be?
For more information, see Roberta Gibson Writes.
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