Prairie Fur

Easter is behind us. 


Suffering from a sugar hangover, I download my weekend pics and reflect on soft plants and horses instead of sticky peeps.


Lupine is emerging.  Horses look forlorn as they shed their winter coats.

Lupinus perennis is waking up. Check out the hairs on the leaves.

Ringo is forlorn, but happy. Even with a messy mane.

Both are furry.

As I research pubescent leaves, I think about how lupine uses those downy hairs or trichomes to protect itself against moisture loss to the elements. Hairs that create a boundary layer between the delicate leaf surface and drying April wind. Hairs that reflect the damaging rays of a July sun.

Furry leaves are one of the many adaptations that keep this native prairie plant healthy during a Wisconsin growing season.

What about that water droplet in the center? Is there a function associated with this entrapment? Does it create a lens effect which magnifies the sunlight, warms up the center and enhances photosynthesis during a cool spring morning? Or maybe the plant absorbs the droplet slowly before the sun has a chance to evaporate it away.


So many questions.


Do you know?