6/28/2015

a walk in the woods

The warm weather and frequent rains have been good for the green carpet in the woods.  Now that green carpet is beginning to bloom.  But it requires a close look!  These blossoms on Enchanter's Nightshade Circaea lutetiana are just 1/8" to 1/4" across.  Each blossom has only 2 petals but often looks like four.  The short white hairs will become stiff hooked hairs as the blossom changes to a fruit capsule containing two seeds; the hairs will allow the seeds to cling to anything passing by.  Tiny but smart when it comes to species survival.