01/15/2020
Milkweed seed; Milkweed is the plant of choice for Monarch Butterflies. They lay their eggs on the plant, and the caterpillar that emerges from the egg spends its ambulatory life on milkweed. Named for the milky white substance that bleeds from the stem when cut, the plant is poison to any other insect or animal that consumes its leaves, except for the monarch caterpillar. When the plant has matured, a sack grows filled with many seeds like this one, with white fibers attached to each seed for the wind to carry to a new location to grow, and the cycle repeats. In order to germinate, most milkweed seeds require about a month of cool, moist conditions. Fun fact: the white fibrous threads attached to seeds were once used in life preservers.
Second Image is set up to take the photo - seed stuck to coffee mug for backdrop, flashlight as backlight.
