Have you even seen one of THESE? James is holding its curved tip. When I was outside, working today, I felt something sticking my arm through my long-sleeved top.
Yikes! This is what I found!
UPDATE FEBRUARY 24, 2012
Master Naturalist Edie Z. identified this seed for me!
"I knew I had seen this seed, couldn't remember why it stuck
in my mind," she emailed me today. "So after doing some research on the internet and then
checking my Texas Wildflower book, I am pretty sure the seed with
the little corkscrew on the end comes from the plant called stork's bill (Erodium texanum). The geranium family,
of which this is one, has several members that have this type of
seed. The end coils when the air is dry and then uncoils when the
humidity rises. Neat way to disperse. Problems occur when this seed
gets in the fur or wool of an animal and then works its way under
the skin."
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE MARCH 2, 2012 This is Erodium cicutarium, not taxanum. See blog post March 2, 2012. |
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Mystery of well-armed seed SOLVED
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