Friday, March 30, 2012

The Mystery is Solved

When out at La Sal del Rey last week, I just happened to see this thing on a prickly pear cactus pad.  




I showed this picture to one of the staff who knows plants, and he had no idea what it was.  Chris is very knowledgeable, so when he did not know...I gave up (for a while).  To tell you the truth, I thought someone was playing a joke, but it was in an area where nobody would even see it!!!  I was scoping out a Bewick's Wren at the time when I came upon it.




A few days later, I noticed this...hum, look familiar?  




Look at the center of the bloom.  When the petals fall off, and the stamens are gone, the pistil is left.  This might not have been a mystery to you, but I had never experienced this before.




When investigating, watch out for the tiny thorns as I encountered a few and am still picking them out of my fingers.


Until next time...

2 comments:

  1. I tranplanted some of those from our house in Gladstone to our property in Nauvoo and just ended up throwing away a good pair of leather gloves. Could not get all those needles out!

    Didn't you tell me you were headed to Colorado this summer? Remember Marty and Sara Leigh Wilson? They are going to go explore there this summer. Maybe you will run into them. :)

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  2. Yes, Colorado here we come. I remember them well. Hope we get to see them there.

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