Last week, I took a short early morning trip out to my family prairie.  As the sun came up, its light was caught beautifully by the fuzzy seeds of various prairie plants, particularly stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida) and dotted gayfeather (Liatris punctata).

A stiff goldenrod seed is ready to fall from a seedhead.  Helzer prairie, near Stockham, Nebraska.

Species with fuzzy parachute-style seeds trade distance for time.  Their seeds can be carried far from the plant, giving them a chance to colonize new areas.  However, because the seeds have to be light weight, they tend to have short shelf-lives, and can’t survive for very long – they will either germinate quickly or die.  Bulkier seeds often have the ability to survive for years in the ground and then germinate when favorable conditions appear – but they don’t typically travel very far from their parent plant.  Life is a series of tradeoffs!

More goldenrod seeds.

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And more.  In this photo, the contrast between the brightness of the seeds and the shadows behind the plant were such that the camera couldn’t capture it all, resulting in a black background behind the correctly-exposed seeds.

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Even after the petals (and even the seeds) fall, goldenrod flowers are still very attractive.

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Dotted gayfeather also has short-lived, high-flying seeds. However, once a new plant is established, it puts down deep roots (literally – as deep as 10-15 feet).

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More dotted gayfeather seeds.