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Tag: Seed of the Week (Page 5 of 142)

Mystery Seed of the Week 252

June 16, 2015 / / 2 Comments

 

Unlike last week’s mystery seeds, these popular flowers are widespread.

mystery-seeds-252

We’ve had some similar-shaped seeds. Don’t they look like rockets with the exhaust flames shooting out behind? (The white object is a grain of rice added for scale.)

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. Next week, however, we are having a special activity so the answers will be posted in two weeks.

Edit:  The answer is now posted.

Seed of the Week: Desert Rosemallow

June 16, 2015 / / 2 Comments

Our fuzzy mystery seeds from last week apparently stumped everyone, probably because they are fairly rare and localized. They were from a desert rosemallow or Coulter’s hibiscus, Hibiscus coulteri.

desert-rosemallow-flower-025Desert rosemallow is a scraggly perennial shrub that reaches three to four feet high. Its most prominent feature is its beautiful cup-shaped yellow to cream-colored flowers.

mystery-seed-251-2The flowers produce unique hairy or sericeous seeds. It should not be surprising to learn that desert rosemallows are relatives of other plants with fiber-covered seeds, the cottons. The flowers resemble those of Thurber’s cotton and commercial cotton.

Desert-rosemallow-flower05

This is also a good plant to highlight during pollinator week because it attracts bees.

More photographs of desert rosemallow are available at the Native Plant Database and Firefly Forest.

Have you spotted any interesting seeds this week?

Mystery Seed of the Week 251

June 9, 2015 / / 0 Comments

 

This week we have a plant that is a southwestern specialist.

mystery-seed-251-2

You might have seen the seeds of relatives of this plant, however.

mystery-seed-251By the way, the botanical term for these hairy seeds is that they are “sericeous.”

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:  The answer is now posted.

Did you find any interesting seeds this week?

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