Last week’s seeds were large and from eastern North America.
This week’s seeds are much smaller and from the Southwest.
You probably won’t see them out like this, however.
The seeds are often hidden within small dried flowers.
Do you recognize what 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 mystery samaras last week were (as Sara suggested) from a tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera.
(Photograph in the public domain by P.Gibellini at Wikimedia)
The scientific species name means “tulip bearing” and refers to the stunning yellow and orange cup-shaped flowers…
although I have often thought the leaves look a bit like tulips, too.
Tulip trees are large, beautiful deciduous natives to the East Coast of North America.
They are so popular that they are the state tree of Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana.
Have you ever seen a tulip tree flowering? What do you think of them?
An insect from the archives…
This is a Baltimore checkerspot caterpillar I found a few years ago in western New York state.
As you can tell from the bright orange and black warning coloration, it is likely this species is chemically protected. How noxious a given caterpillar is, however, depends on whether it feeds on certain chemically-defended host plants.
Another species, Harris’ checkerspot, has caterpillars that are orange and black as well. They look very similar and are apparently mimics.
You can find photographs of Baltimore checkerspot host plants, life cycle, and a link to coloring pages at the Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources.
For more information, see Roberta Gibson Writes.
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