Teasel Surprise

Recently, near Eugene, Oregon, I found a patch of teasels doing something I've never seen before. Instead of dropping to the ground, their seeds have sprouted and are growing in the seed heads, many feet off the ground. They look like so many Chia Pets. I wonder if this is a result of extra-high rains and warmer conditions? I'm going to look around the area soon and see if this is happening elsewhere. Is it possible if I break off a few heads and put them on or under a bit of soil, these sprouts will be able to grow? Not that there's any shortage of teasels here.

Steve McDonald

 

Yes, due to warm, wet conditions.

They probably would grow on OK if you cut the head off and put it on the ground, though probably only one or two would grow to flowering size, the rest would get crowded out. Whether one should do so is another matter, I seem to remember teasel is listed as an invasive alien in the US, so it might be best not to let them grow on.

 

iNVASIVE?? I think it depends on where you are but it definitely does well in northern areas than in southern areas. I love this plant and grow it in my yard and in pots. In this area I have only seen a couple of solitary plants up near Cal Poly SLO. It is mostly a weed in drainge ditches from what I saw in No. Cal. Cannot really say if it constitutes any competitive threat to any natives.
What I find interesting about it is that it is a bienniel and that it produces a fairly woody stem, which along with Oenothera hookeri, interests me in any possibility as use for low grade pulp for the paper industry.

 

Interesting idea, but I suspect the yield per hectare would be far too low to be commercially viable. It is very light-demanding and never grows at high density.

 

It would have to be field grown.
Too bad it has not been cultivated to discover any genetic
sports that might yield a plant that would provide a good yield
per acre. (Oenothera may be in this position.) Another thought is using the seeds in producing oil. I am wondering what kind of nutritional supplements can be produced with teasel seed, if any? Or would there be any other kind of use as in terms of a natural lubricant?
Cosmetic base? Feed? Or ??

 

Over here (where it is native) it is primarily grown for attracting wildlife, particularly Goldfinches, which love the seeds:
http://www.mikeweedon.co.uk/images/goldfinchsmaca062162.jpg
http://www.digitalwildlife.co.uk/birds/img/goldfinch 5516 lw.jpg
I certainly don't know of any plant more reliable for attracting Goldfinches.

For pulp and paper production, species like Cannabis sativa and Chamerion angustifolium should give much higher yields.

 

Glad to hear that goldfinches enjoy teasel seed. While years ago I used to be visited yearly by lesser, lawrence, and american goldfinches that came to feed on Oenothera hookeri seed now there seems to be only one small group of lawrence goldfinches that drop by.

I forgot about Cannabis as a pulp producer. But your comment reminded me of an image of a cannabis field in Afghanistan that had plants that were like 12 or more feet tall!!!

 

Reviving an old thread

Hello!
Years later I too have discovered a huge number of teasels in the Pacific NW that seem to be sprouting from the dead seed heads. I came across this old thread while looking for information regarding this seemingly rare phenomenon and was wondering if anyone can shed more light on this. In particular I'm wondering if these are actually teasel sprouts or if they are some other plant whose seeds have colonized the dead teasel seed heads. The pictures below were taken recently at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge near Vancouver, Washington. There are large fields of teasel there and most all of them seem to be sprouting. Thanks for the help!

 

An intriguing example of vivipary in plants.

 

Nice to have a name for that.

Andrey Zharkikh posted a photo on flickr of a tomato with sprouts protruding from its skin. You can see in the neighbouring photo that's happening with at least four of the tomatoes in the package of six. [edited: the Wikipedia article does make it clear that you would not really call it vivipary when it's an abnormal occurrence like this].

 

Yes, they are; it is so highly improbable that any other seeds would be able to reach that location in that density as to be impossible.

I think this one would fit the comment there "the seeds can be found already germinated while the fruit goes overripe; strictly speaking this condition cannot be described as vivipary". Those seedlings are not going to survive with no soil access, so it is an evolutionary dead-end.

I wonder if US native birds have not yet evolved the ability to take the seeds? Here, Golfinches (Carduelis carduelis) take the seeds avidly, and also drop a lot accidentally; those dropped seeds would have a good chance on survival.

 

What about airborne seeds from neighboring teasels? Seems a possibility given their form factor:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikfoz/3933312303/

The American Goldfinch is said to be common at this refuge in spring and summer, but rare in fall and winter. They'll eat teasel seeds but I don't know if we had a normal migration of them come through this year.

 

Those are actually thistle seeds in that Flickr pic. Teasel seeds don't have any pappus like that. Had there been a thistle population nearby, one could expect an odd one or two seeds to lodge in the teasel heads, but not the hundreds as in your pics.

 

Michael, I don't understand. You say they're thistle seeds. But the plant they're growing on is a teasel? And you don't think it possible that some other plant could have colonized this one from the outside to this extent?

 

Looks rather scary! Looks like they could start growing in my stomach, too! One more reason to grow and eat only my own!

No matter how do I store my tomatoes, and I store them for months, since the middle of September when I have to pick them all because of the start of the frost season, to the middle of December or longer, nothing like that ever happened to them!

No, I am not telling the truth, it matters how do I store them; I do not use chemicals, I don't use plastic, I don't use irradiation, I don't use whatever else could be used I haven't heard about. I store them naturally!

Could you, Andrey, post the picture here, as well, for everybody to see?

 

The plant in the Flickr pic is a thistle, misidentified as a teasel. I'm not referring here to the pics on this thread.

No.

 

Here they are. If the tomatos hit the ground as it happens in nature, the sprouts would have a chance to root with readily available moisture.

 

So it is simply a new scientific discovery to make gardeners life easier?

 

This just came up on my Facebook feed - viviparous strawberries.
Soul Alchemy

 

I find it disturbing to look esp at the food plants - no reason - just strange

So does it count if the potatoes forgotten in the cool storage start sprouting (chitting) ?

 

I will answer, knowing nothing about this, that it does not count because the potatoes are roots, not fruits. They are supposed to sprout.

 

I encountered this curiosity only once, about 30 years ago when a tomato sitting on the countertop seemed to get more and more firm as the days went by.

It should have begun to rot by the time I finally sliced it open and discovered that it was full of sprouting seeds!

If, as @Michael F says, "the seeds can be found already germinated while the fruit goes overripe; strictly speaking this condition cannot be described as vivipary", is there another word to describe this phenomenon?

 

Margot - how about

Vivi Over Ripary ? :)

(Remember when the radio had contests like « wanted words » ... maybe Arthur black show?)

I have experienced a farm tomato (ie grown by neighbor) like the one Margot describes.

 

I like your sense of humour @Georgia Strait.