Are you ready to find out what those twisty seed pods were from?

Would you believe this delicate, lovely flower produced them? This plant is called filaree, or sometimes heron’s bill or stork’s bill (Genus Erodium).

Why heron’s bill?

Don’t the developing fruit look like bird beaks?

As the seed structures dry, they twist and drill the seed into the ground.

You can actually get the filaree to drive itself into bread (check Kaweah Oaks Preserve for how to do this fun activity).

We discovered another species while we were in California.

The fruit of this kind are shorter.

According to one source I read, these plants were brought over from Europe by the early Spanish explorers.

Do you have filaree where you live?