YOSEMITE, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Each season brings changes. In Yosemite, besides the yellowing trees and drab meadows filled with tilting plants, Park Rangers also spotted some “funny white tufts”.
Park Rangers explained those funny white tufts are Showy milkweed or Asclepias speciosa. These plants are already prepared for next year while some other plants are just merely getting ready for the next season.
They say their summertime cluster of pink flowers, pollinated perhaps by monarch butterflies, have spent the warmer months transforming into larger pods that are now splitting open to reveal the feathery seeds within.
“So, despite the weakening stalks and blackened leaves, our meadows are still bursting with life, awaiting not just the spring’s distant bloom but also today’s breeze and all the adventure and anticipation in between,” said Park Rangers in their social media post.
Park Rangers also showed ripe berries left from late summer among the leaves of their Pacific dogwoods or Cornus nuttallii. These berries are not good for people, but they are good food for birds and bears.
