Tag: Seed of the Week (Page 18 of 142)

Seed of the Week: Yellow Wood Sorrel

The mystery seeds from last week that look like insects were indeed from yellow wood sorrel, Oxalis stricta.

yellow-wood-sorrel-pod-leaf-flowerYellow wood sorrel is a small short-lived perennial that grows throughout much of North America.

yellow-wood-sorrel-leaf-7It is sometimes mistaken as clover because the leaves are composed of three heart-shaped leaflets.

sorrel-flower-101 The delicate 5-petal flowers are pale to bright yellow.

There are a couple of other closely-related species of Oxalis that resemble O. stricta, and may be difficult to identify.

Native to North America, yellow wood sorrel can be considered to be a weed in certain nursery or turfgrass situations. Others may enjoy its delicate beauty, and consider it to be a wildflower.

In any case, don’t you think it has unusual seeds?

mystery-seed-230-mature

Mystery Seed of the Week 230

Our mystery seeds this week hardly look like seeds.

mystery-seed-230-pod-1

The seed pods with immature seeds looks more like it is filled with insects or mites.

mystery-seed-230-pod-openedHere’s a seed pod opened up somewhat.

mystery-seed-230-mature

The mature seed is reddish-brown one with distinct ridges towards the center of the photo. Doesn’t it look like an insect grub? Mealy bug? Nope, that is a seed.

Do you recognize what plant these insect-like 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:  The answer is now posted.

Seed of the Week: Butter-and-Eggs

Our mystery seeds from last week (229) were from a plant known by several common names, including butter-and-eggs and common toadflax. The scientific name is Linaria vulgaris.

butter-and-eggs-flower

The common name butter-and-eggs comes from the lovely yellow and orange color of the snapdragon-like flowers.

common-toadflax-leavesCommon toadflax is a relatively small perennial  with delicate leaves. It is originally from Europe-Northern Asia and escaped cultivation in North America. It is considered to be an invasive weed, particularly of pastureland, in several states.

toadflax-seeds-hurst(Public domain photo by  Steve Hurst, hosted by the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database.)

In addition to the papery wings around the seeds, they also have warty bumps that can be seen under a microscope.

common-toadflax-flower-1Although considered to be a weed by some, I do have fond memories of “snapping” open the flowers by pinching them in a manner similar to snapdragons when I was a child.

What do you call these plants? Do they grow where you live?

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