Happy Mystery Monday! Can you guess what is pictured in photo #1?
The answer to last week’s mystery is broomsedge, Andropogon virginicus, pictured in photo #2.
Broomsedge is the primary meadow grass in the Northeast, and is considered a four season beauty! It is a vigorous plant that provides excellent ground cover, particularly for quail, and is a good food source in Winter for birds and small mammals.The plant’s distinctly flattened leaves and sheaths turn reddish-brown with maturity, while the flowers and seed heads give a feathery appearance. In Winter, the foliage and seed heads develop a pleasing golden orange color.
On late Winter afternoons, a field of broomsedge is quite a spectacle with glowing coppery foliage and silvery hairs that refract the sunlight.
Adkins Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy and Adkins Arboretum. For more information go here.
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