On our trek back from the Toadstool Trail in southern Utah, we took some time to look at the desert beneath our feet and found things that seemed unusual to our Canadian eyes.
The two photos below show the seed pods of a type of agave (possibly a yucca). The seed pods are large - about the size of my fist. These pods are fairly fresh, as we saw others that had turned a dull purple shade. We came across a few that had been picked and half eaten and saw they are filled with stacks of hundreds of flat seeds.
I believe the flower below is a Dune Evening Primrose. The blossoms are about 1 to 2 inches across. The pebbles I couldn’t resist due to the colour mix - love those dark blues and mauves!
John noticed the arcs and circles in the sand dunes (photos below) and realized the breezes have tossed the dune grasses around, so that the tips of the grass stalks swept grooves in the sand. Crop circles explained at last?
I don’t know the name of this plant (below) that was about a foot tall, but I liked the shadow pattern it cast on the dune. It seemed too fragile to survive in such a hot and dry environment.
July 7th, 2009 at 3:20 pm I would be worried something with many legs would be living in those pods.