Can
you identify what's in this photo?
Each Wednesday morning
on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page
the Lutherlyn Environmental
Education Program posts a photo.
Readers
have all morning and afternoon
to
make their best guess about what the photo is.
Around
6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.
Each
week's What is it Wednesday post
will
also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog,
after it is posted on Facebook,
sometimes
with additional bonus information.
In
addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday
on the
Nature of Lutherlyn blog,
we
will be reposting old editions,
creating
a What is it Wednesday archive.
This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on
December 15, 2021.
And
the answer is....
Inside the burrs are seeds, waiting to be dispersed by whatever person or critter unwittingly carries the burrs with them when they get caught on their clothing or fur. The burrs of cocklebur are similar to that of burdock, but are football shaped instead of round, and are a bit smaller. Also, burdock plants grow to about 4 ft tall, while cockleburs are about one to two feet tall.
Cockelburs are a short-day plant – they can only flower when
there are enough hours of darkness. With enough time in the dark, a chemical
process takes place in the leaves which releases a chemical that triggers flowers to bloom. In Pennsylvania,
they generally flower in late summer and early fall.
Even though most plants are not blooming now, and deciduous trees have dropped their leaves and annual plants have died back for the winter, there are still interesting parts of plants to be found in nature this time of year – like these burrs. Keep an eye out and see what you can learn about what plants are up to when the nights are long and temperatures are cold.
Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on
Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when
they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!
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