Goat’s Beard
A Goat’s Beard seed-head is like a Dandelion clock on steroids. Tragopogon pratensis has long seeds and beautiful upside-down umbrella parachutes:
Each seed is on a square-section stalk:
What’s really remarkable…
…is just how much fine dirt there is under my fingernails in this photograph.
They are fabulous structures. Hafod Grange in Wales make paperweights using Goat’s Beard seed-heads. Here’s one I bought boxed from Kew Gardens:
