Rough Avens

I'm a volunteer Land Steward for the Bruce Trail, and today I went out to inspect the property I'm responsible for.  We're supposed to leave the trail behind, and inspect the entire property, in other words wander off the trail - so guess what I came home covered with - more burs, Agrimony (see yesterday's post) and Rough Avens to be specific.

After Agrimony, Rough Avens is the other most common bur around here.  But it operates a little differently.  This is the bur that is left on the plant after the flower blooms; by fall it has dried out and turned brown.

But these are the burs that stick to my sleeves and sox.  The larger bur from the plant comes easily apart and it's the individual little burs that grab you, each with a tiny hook on the end to hang on with.  They're a bit more of a nuisance to pick off because they're so small. It took me some sleuthing to link the bur you see on the plant with the individual burs that you find on your sleeve.

This is the inconspicuous yellow bloom in June.  They bloom so briefly that I didn't even catch this one with all five petals, but it's the best I've got.  The blooms seem to me to last only a few hours, and you can already see the large bur forming in the centre of the flower.

Here's a plant with both a bloom and a recently formed bur at the same time, still looking mostly green.  These plants are all through our meadow, and many old fields around here, so step off the trail, and you're likely to find a few - or else they'll find you.