Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Broom Pods

Broom Pods - Marin County  2012


"The pods are 2–3 cm long, tough and hard, and are transported easily by flowing water and animals. They burst open with force, dispersing the seeds several metres. The plant begins seed production once it reaches a height of approximately 40 cm, and each plant can live for 10–20 years. One mature plant can produce 10,000 seeds per season. The generous seed production and the plant's ability to re-sprout after cutting or burning help it to invade new habitat vigorously when introduced."

- Wikipedia

6 comments:

Diane said...

Delicious stir fried or just tossed in a summery salad of mesclun, cucumber, heirloom tomatoes & a light sesame dressing.

Just kidding.....do not try this at home. ;-))

Mike Mundy said...

Or boil them in salted water like edamame pods from Trader Joes, then eat the seeds.

Also just kidding!

Interesting, though, how colorful the plant is when blooming. No wonder people planted them. (Alas.)

Diane said...

Scotch broom is quite beautiful. I used to work at an organic garden center where we sold many varieties, and never new that pods formed on the stems after blooming. Interesting how they grow upwards and not down. Hmmmm.....

And after looking at the robot quiz, I know I will not pass the test. Grrr... It looks like they have photographed someones house numbers with the camera lens completely out of focus and from across the street. Or maybe it's braille. Dot over dot next to single dot. This is getting ridiculous. I'm taking a stab at it and saying it's "80".

Diane said...

Wow, I did pass.

Mike Mundy said...

All blogs that are being published through Blogger (i.e., Google) have the same obnoxious quiz. I heard somewhere that the answers don't have to be totally correct . . . just in the ballpark. (?!)

Don't know if that's true or not.

But maybe it is, 'cause you passed.

Diane said...

Yes, well I probably do need glasses. I guess I'm getting pretty good at reading/interpreting blurry type from a distance. I knew it was a skill that would come in handy one day.