Talk about a mystery seed.
I couldn’t find a labelled photograph online to verify the identification (the seed is round and white item is a grain of rice added for scale).
Hint:Â it is considered to be a landscape plant.
Do you recognize what plant this seed is 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.
The bumpy seeds (really nutlets) from last week’s mystery seed tipped off Craig that they were from the common or coast fiddleneck, Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia.
The plant gets the name fiddlehead from the arching shape of its flower head.
The bright yellow flowers open in succession starting at the base. As more flowers open, the flower head becomes longer and more curled.
Common fiddlehead is native to western North America, including Arizona where it grows as a short-lived spring annual. It also grows in parts of Australia as a weed.
As you can see from the photograph, the entire plant is covered with hairs that can irritate the skin, especially once the plant has finished blooming and dried out. You definitely want to wear long pants and gloves when cleaning these up.
By the way, the bumpy, ridged nutlets contain toxins. If livestock eat grain or feed contaminated with too many fiddleneck seeds, they can be poisoned.
On the other hand, some birds seem to be able to eat them without ill effects.
Do fiddlenecks grow where you live?
Last week Karen left a comment that it is difficult to tell how big the mystery seeds are without some sense of scale.
Adding scale to the seed photographs is something I have struggled with for a long time. Macro photography requires a narrow depth of field, which limits the area in focus. Also, adding something like a penny or ruler rather wrecks any attempts at artistic composition.
Her question, however, finally sparked an answer for me. How about including a grain of rice?
The rice is still out of focus, but it does give some scale. I don’t think it detracts too much, do you?
By the way, these funny little seeds are from an Arizona native plant that started growing in our yard all on its own.
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.
For more information, see Roberta Gibson Writes.
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