Autumn chores for me include wandering the riparian buffer around the pond and assisting dissemination of wildflower seeds. Some native plants exist here in clumps. Our goal is to spread desirable wildflowers throughout the buffer, while suppressing the 'weeds'. The many tiny seeds on Yellow Loosestrife Lysimachia ciliata form in small round capsules after the flower matures.
The capsule is formed from the five sepals,
those green triangular-shaped structures behind or below the petals of the flowers. As they dry out, the capsules harden. When the seeds are ripe the spheres burst, the five parts open, and the seeds are released. This is a perennial plant in the Primrose family, and important to native bees in Minnesota. Next season they will bloom again, bright yellow.
