Wild Wild Woods: Yellow Goats Beard

7/16/2017

Yellow Goats Beard

The seed head of the Yellow Goats Beard Tragopogon dubius is a fluffy ball 3-1/2 inches across. The elongated seeds stand stiffly forming a ball. Each seed has brown hairs at the top forming a tiny 'umbrella' plume; when ripe, the seeds release at the bottom and breezes help the plume carry them to next season's growing site. This is one of Mother Nature's methods for seed dispersal.

Yellow Goats Beard blossom

About this blog "Wild Wild Woods"

Through 2018, the posts on "wild wild woods" were photos taken in my bird garden and a set-aside strip of land that was the old fence row when the suburban lots in my neighborhood were farmed land. That wooded area sheltered a variety of plants and wildlife among the trees, understory, and a brushpile.

Now, my windows look out on a pond.

My new location is another former farm field that became a neighborhood. Fortunately, the wetland was preserved. It includes a pond surrounded by wildflowers, grasses, reeds, and a few trees.

I am pleased to observe and enjoy these places for birds, critters, and plants of central Minnesota.

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7/16/2017

Yellow Goats Beard