The winter seeders

Some plants' seed dispersal strategy includes snow.

Those are the plants which tower above the snow in winter, dropping their seed in their own good time, preferably on a nice high layer of snow. Then, when it gets windy, the seeds go surfing along the snow layer to some place far far away from where they started.

There's drawbacks to the method, of course. Like when the snowcover only really gets going in February (like this year). In those years, plants which drop their seeds in January won't get their seed carried anywhere at all. Except later on, by the spring meltoff. Perhaps, possibly, maybe, and you never know.

Here's a few such winter seeders. The Finnish word for winter seeders is, by the way, one of the coolest words ever: "talventörröttäjät". Which unfortunately is impossible to translate, but believe me, in one word it says exactly what these plants are all about, and what they generally look like, in winter.

Pic: Burdock stalks in seed in winter.
Pic: Tansy stalks in seed in winter.
Pic: Nettle stalks in winter, seeds dropped long ago.

You'll also find yarrow and wild angelica among the winter seeders, but sorry, I have no pics of those -- this time around.