Dragon- and damselflies don’t often perch on photogenic flower heads, so when I found this one yesterday I was pleased. Of course it’s not a flower, but close enough. This is a female emerald spreadwing damselfly (Lestes dryas), clutching the seed capsule on a stem of seedbox (Ludwigia alternifolia). I’m calling it a two-fer because it’s an ode on a native plant, two awesome things for the price of one!
I discovered seedbox last fall while helping to collect seeds for my Wild Ones chapter, and instantly fell in love with its square seed capsules. They’re filled with tiny little seeds that rattle when shaken. Each seed capsule has a hole in the top, presumably so the seeds can fall out when the plant is blown by the wind or otherwise jostled. This plant has lovely yellow blooms in the summer, but they aren’t nearly as interesting as these little brown boxes, if you ask me. 🙂
Nature Is My Therapy 
Wow! Those brown boxes are intriguing! I’d find a place for some of those in my house… most of my decor is wildlife and nature related. We’re getting loads of rain here… and flooding. Already the mosquitoes have set up digs here. It’s a misery!
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Oh yeah, the mosquitoes are terrible here too. We’ve had tons of rain too. I don’t think we’ve had two days without rain in the past six weeks! And I came home from the dragonfly conference with poison ivy all over the left side of my body — I have no idea where I got it. 😦
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For me poison ivy takes three to four weeks or more to heal from. If it was windy, just standing next to it can get you in trouble. I once got mine from burning it – my mother-in-law had put it in the brush pile to burn and I wasn’t aware. The burning caused the worst case of poison ivy I’ve ever had. I was miserable for weeks – it even got me out of jury duty! Tecnu and Ivarest work pretty well for keeping the itching down. And Duluth Trading Company carries a poison ivy soap that helps too.
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Yay for dragons and damsels! Lovely shot. We’ve had so much rain here, they have been undercover…. thank you for the beautiful moment.
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And we’ve got 50-60% chance of rain through most of the upcoming week too…I think somebody must be building an ark somewhere….
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I love it when Mother Nature cooperates and I get to photograph it. I would be equally enamoured of those little brown seed boxes…you should see my drawing table, strewn with feathers, gum nuts, leaves, bark…. 🙂
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Nature is wonderful artistic inspiration!
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