What are they?

Started by sakorick, September 30, 2018, 10:27:27 AM

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sakorick

Paul, I know you know so let the others guess. :)
Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice.

gitano

I'll give "them" a cryptic hint: Rick has a keen interest in the thing that produces these.

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

recoil junky

When you go afield, take the kids and please......................................wear your seatbelts.
Northwest Colorado.............Where the wapiti roam and deer and antelope run amuck. :undecided:  
Proud father of a soldier medic in The 82nd Airborne 325th AIR White Falcons :army:

jaeger88

I cant believe in fate.
If the futures all worked out, horoscopes & all that, it means none of us are responsible for anything we do, it means we are just actors in a script written by someone else. I dont believe that.

Paul Hoskins

I can't see very good but they look like thistle seed pods to me.   .......Paul H

sakorick

#5
OK, watch this video.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Swamp+Milkweed+Growth&&view=detail&mid=A18BC65B9C09CE2FADB8A18BC65B9C09CE2FADB8&&FORM=VRDGAR


Our region’s milkweeds, including the common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), swamp milkweed (A. incarnata) and butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) are amazingly complex and beautiful plants best known perhaps for their interesting pods, delicately plumed wind-borne seeds, and critical role in the life cycle of the iconic monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus).

Without milkweeds to exclusively provide monarch caterpillars their only food source from egg to chrysalis, monarch butterflies cannot survive. Sadly, populations of both native milkweeds and monarchs are in precipitous decline across the nation, linked to extensive herbicide use in glyphosate-tolerant (“Roundup-Ready”) genetically-modified corn and soybean fields, aggressive mowing and herbicide use along roadsides, expanded urban development, logging at over-wintering sites, and generalized habitat fragmentation and degradation.

According to //www.monarchwatch.org, at least 100 million acres of milkweed and monarch habitat have been lost in the last decade due to the adoption of glyphosate-tolerant crops, while an additional 6,000 acres are lost to development each day (2.2 million acres per year) within the butterfly’s summer breeding grounds. The eastern North American monarch population is now considered critically-imperiled, as described in a recent report from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation (Jepsen, et.al, 2015). Protection of existing milkweed stands and enhanced propagation and restoration of native populations are key to the survival of this much beloved butterfly.

As a plant, milkweed has been controversial, sparking debate over whether it’s a weed or a desirable plant. But one thing is certain: Milkweed has an unquestionably heroic place in American history.
It was used as a kapok substitute during World War II. Kapok – a soft, cottony material from the kapok tree – was often used to fill “Mae West” life jackets during World War II.
But the supply of kapok was cut off by Japan’s control of Java, one of the main sources. Milkweed floss – waterproof and buoyant – was the best available substitute for kapok.
So wartime pamphlets encouraged children to gather milkweed. A brochure produced by the Soil Conservation Service for War Hemp Industries urged: “School children of America! Help save your father’s, brothers’, and neighbors’ lives by collecting milkweed pods.”
Canada and about 29 American states east of the Rockies were involved in the campaign, which furnished about 2 million pounds of milkweed floss to the armed services in one year.
The slogan “Two bags save one life” summed up the main mission. The floss harvested from two bags of milkweed pods would fill one life jacket.
Milkweed floss was also used to line flight suits. The pods were sent to the Petoskey Fairgrounds in Michigan to be dried and processed.
A 1944 issue of National Geographic magazine shows 90,000 pounds of milkweed drying there, “to buoy up fighting men’s life jackets.”

It’s been estimated that more than 11 million pounds of milkweed were collected by the end of World War II.

Because milkweed has been a friend to humanity in countless, little-known ways, I wonder: Is it time to remove the word “weed” from milkweed? Emerson, a New England optimist, would surely think so.
Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice.

gitano

Quote from: jaeger88;151681Tribbles ?.
:MOGRIN:

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

gitano

There's also a beetle that feeds primarily but not exclusively on milkweed. It has a strange name - milkweed beetle (Oncopeltus fasciatus). When I was at KU, we used them extensively for behavioral experiments because they were easy to raise given all the milkweed in the area.

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

Paul Hoskins

Back in the late 1960's or early 1970's my brother & I went groundhog hunting on a farm we had hunted several times. We had to walk thru several acres of trees to get back to the hay fields. From a distance we noticed half the trees had reddish brown leaves like they were dying. When we got closer we discovered the reddish colors were monarch butterflies by the thousands hanging in clusters. As the sun warmed them up they took flight. A huge cloud of them. It seemed like all the monarch's in the world was there.  .......Paul H

sakorick

Quote from: Paul Hoskins;151690Back in the late 1960's or early 1970's my brother & I went groundhog hunting on a farm we had hunted several times. We had to walk thru several acres of trees to get back to the hay fields. From a distance we noticed half the trees had reddish brown leaves like they were dying. When we got closer we discovered the reddish colors were monarch butterflies by the thousands hanging in clusters. As the sun warmed them up they took flight. A huge cloud of them. It seemed like all the monarch's in the world was there.  .......Paul H

I would like to see something like that!
Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice.

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