fall | The Prairie Ecologist

To this prairie photographer, milkweed seeds are like candy – I just can’t get enough. As I’ve walked around this fall, I’ve had a very difficult time walking past any milkweed plant without stopping to photograph the silky seeds shimmering in the light. They’re just so FLUFFY!

(And yes, botanist friends, I know the fluffy part isn’t actually the seed, but is an ‘appendage’ called the coma – or less accurately, the pappus – that aids in wind transport of the seed. And the brown parts are actually the follicles that CONTAIN the seed. Yes, yes, and yes. Allow me this vulgarization for the sake of simplicity, ok?)

FLUFFY!!

It’s getting a little harder to find milkweed seeds that haven’t yet blown away, but they’re out there. I keep seeing them as I walk through prairie and drive down the highway. I can hide the Halloween candy so I don’t snack on it all day, but who’s going to hide all those milkweed seeds?

Rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium) seeds hang tenuously to the flower head. Lincoln Creek Prairie (Prairie Plains Resource Institute) in Aurora, Nebraska.

I stole an hour of photography time this week as a foggy morning worked its way toward a sunny afternoon. The small restored prairie on the edge of town was a great place to explore. A few surprises awaited. Though most flowers were well done with flowering, a few late ones were still in bloom – possibly plants that were injured earlier in the season and were trying to squeeze out a flower on hastily regrown stems. Insects were surprisingly abundant – taking advantage of a day with temperatures in the high 60’s and rising. Here is a selection of images from my prairie walk.

Late goldenrod (Solidago gigantea)

More goldenrod

A tiny beetle takes advantage of a rare pollen dinner on a stiff goldenrod plant (Solidago rigida) that was flowering extraordinarily late.

This stink bug blends in wonderfully with the drying head of pitcher sage (Salvia azurea) it was exploring.

Giant milkweed bug on a common milkweed pod.

There were quite a few damselflies feeding on tiny flying insects as I walked around. They were difficult to get close to, though…

After many failed attempts, I did finally manage to get close enough to a couple damselflies to get reasonable photos. Here is one of them.

The Prairie Ecologist

Essays, photos, and discussion about prairie ecology, restoration, and management

Tag Archives: fall

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