Delighted by the cattail explosion I described in Monday's post, I set out today to obtain some more cattails to try that trick again and this time attempt to capture the action on video. Lots of cattails grow along the Spring Run trail in Saratoga Springs, so that's where I went to find some.
How lucky we Saratogians are, to have such a lovely, accessible trail right in the middle of town. It runs along an old railroad right-of-way through woods and marsh, and today the trail was so well-packed from use that I didn't even need snowshoes to walk on it. As long as I stayed in the middle, that is. Any step off to the side found me sinking in snow to my thighs.
When I first saw these bushy "flower heads" along the trail, I thought they must be the dried remains of some spectacular blooms.
But then I saw this cluster of blooms sprouting from the stems, and I realized that those fat clusters on top were the remains of goldenrod galls.
There are two very common galls that form on Canada Goldenrod, one that causes a globular swelling in the stem and another that causes an explosion of leaves at the top, clustered tightly in a leafy bunch that looks like a green chrysanthemum. It was that kind I found the remains of today, capped with a fluffy snow bonnet.Lots of cattails grow along the Spring Run trail in low marshy spots where they compete with encroaching phragmites. At first glance, though, it looked as if all of the sausage-shaped heads had already exploded.
Luckily, I found enough intact heads to perform the exploding cattail trick again. In this video, it's my husband doing the pinching while I operate the camera. I had to make several videos, reducing the resolution each time until I obtained one that my blogger would accept. Well, obviously it still didn't work. I managed to post a video on Facebook, but I can't figure out how to make it work on Blogger. Anybody have any suggestions on how to do it?
Update: Huh! I'm getting word from several readers that the video works when they try it. It doesn't on my screen, but I'm glad that some of my readers are able to enjoy the show.
