Wildflowers are gone. Most trees are bare. Is there anything to see on a nature walk? Perhaps winter seeds can provide a guessing game.
What Is This?
A bare stalk sticks up with a crown of pointy seeds on the top. There are no leaves or flowers to give a clue to which flowers produced these seeds.
Thinking back, I know what this is. There were big leaves and pink flowers with petals like fingers in little boats on top of stems.
This is elephant’s foot in winter. There are lots of these stalks so there might be lots of plants next year.
Looking For Clues to Winter Seeds
One good clue is remembering what flowers I saw in this place last summer. This narrows the list of possibles a lot as spring ephemerals and plants not found here are eliminated.
Leaves might be a clue. Sometimes a few green ones are left. Usually there are some dead, brown ones. It takes care to uncurl a dry leaf.
The shape of the seed head is another clue. Monarda flowers leave behind a ball with pockets where the seeds were. These are called beebalm and horsemint commonly.
Fruit is another clue. The persimmon trees often have a few persimmons still hanging on. These are shriveled and dry, but definitely persimmons.
Buckbrush has long stems lined with clusters of red berries. These dry and shrivel and turn dark after a time. I read that lots of birds like them, but I think they are a last choice on the menu.
Why Bother?
Cold winter walks can be more about exercise than looking at plants. The faster the walk, the sooner the return to warmth.
Overwintering bees and caterpillars or pupae value these winter seeds and stalks. They hide inside them or under those fallen leaves to survive the cold. That’s fine for them.
For me, I like having an idea where to look for various wildflowers next year. Those winter seeds give me clues.
There is much to look at during an Ozark winter. Some of it is in “Exploring the Ozark Hills“.
