The Lowly Burdock

Here's a picture taken this past summer in a patch of burdock at the edge of the woods behind our house. The deer are not interested in eating the plant, so it thrives. A tiny spider spun its web on one of the plants, casting its shadow on a leaf below.


And now the large leaves have fallen from the burdock, and the prickly seed pods are left.


For a very cool digital image of the microscopic structure of a burdock seed pod, check out Dennis Kunkel's Microscopic World.