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Project Noah Nature School
Erodium sp.
These spirals were all over the trail! They were loose and stuck to bushes and grasses. The tip is dark and pointed. I couldn't see what plant they came from.
Grassland along trail
Aka Clock plant
Thank you Karen! I love learning new things about a species I've seen before. I hope to witness this burst someday!
Fun fact! The storksbill gets its name from its long seed-pod, shaped very much like the bill of a stork. This bursts open in a spiral when ripe, launching seeds into the air. It achieves this using a coiled spring mechanism powered by shape changes as the fruits dry, hurling the seeds to the ground with such force that they are buried on impact.
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My husband, who's from the middle east, told me the clock plant name. You can just touch it and it will start twirling around! It twirls around animal fur and then the animal disperses the seeds far and wide for the plant.
Thank you all for your help! I've had some in our yard before but always pulled them before they went to seed.
In Bulgaria we call it clock plant too, but do you know why, Ava? Take some dry seeds dip them in water and watch. :)))
This is from a weed you'd recognize called a clock plant. I'll try to find more information.
Spotted on May 1, 2013
Submitted on May 5, 2013
