Collared

A quick walk up and down the canal bank this dull and murky morning before the rain that was forecast trundled in.

There wasn't much around but the dogs liked their walk and the path was strewn with the ripened seeds of the bulrushes abundant in the boggy ground.

The male flower-head is a narrow spike at the top of a vertical stem on top of the brown very striking sausage shaped female head. These very tiny female seeds when ripe disintegrate into a cottony fluff as seen here and are spread by the wind. They can survive for long periods of time in the soil but germinate bast in sunlight and fluctuating temperatures. It was fascinating to see the shapes and feel the texture of the seeds which were incredibly fluffy surrounding the top like a collar.