Beauty and the Beast - Teasel (Dipsacus follunom)

Beauty and the Beast - Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)

Late day light drew my attention and camera lens toward form and function growing alongside an agriculturally derelict old soy field. I was after short-eared owls and northern harriers to photograph, since none were about the spindly beauty of a 5-feet teasel plant took precedence. I've always admired this invasive plant and never really gave it much crap for being so invasive since it does attract a lot of pollinators and winter-seed loving birds like goldfinch. The more I learn about teasels life history the more I admire it. Yes, as a restoration ecologist it needs to be put in its place when it overstays it's welcome in natural systems, but as an edge-loving field obligate I still can't help but play favorites.

It's crown of spikes and spiney-spine (mainstem) is impressive as a means to offset herbivory but what's most fascinating about this plant is the leaves that wrap tightly around the main stem creating a bowl for which insects get snookered, trapped, and maybe even consumed - maybe.

See: https://lnkd.in/gYtayHbM

What happens next is still a mystery. Is this a panoply of evolution played out in real time (?) Are we witnessing a plant evolve into a carnivore {think pitcher plants that drown insects trapped at the base of the spathe (a specialized leaf) where the plant tissues usurp nitrogen compounds from the decaying bodies of their insect prey}? Plant scientists are performing experiments with the teasel plant and have since named the process proto-carnivory. You gotta love this stuff! It's to Teasel's dichotomy of attributes and deficiencies that I look upon it as a real "Beauty and Beast".