Seed and floss, 2022

Fall and Winter By Alessandra Chaves

One of the delights of summers' end in California is the seedpods of the Western milkweed, a member of the genus Asclepias. Typically, these pods are horn shaped. They are filled with seeds and floss, a material attached to the seed that allows it to be carried by the wind, like the seeds of the dandelion seed. The floss was once used to fill flotation devices during World War II and for many years it has been explored for other commercial uses such as filling mattress and pillow filling. I photographed this seedpod at the UC Davis arboretum. The garden is making an effort to plant the milkweed to attract the Monarch butterfly, and has been very successful increasing the population of milkweed plants on its grounds.