November 30, 2008 - Spiky Skeleton
Welcome to the Nature Notebook.

Halloween has come and gone, but a spiky skeleton lingers on through the autumn months. You see these egg-shaped aliens along roadsides and field edges where they grew and bloomed earlier in the year. Originally from Eurasia, teasel is a plant named because the prickly, egg-shaped heads were once used to card or “tease” wool. Introduced into North America in the 1700s, teasel has become well-established here in the eastern part of the country. This somewhat invasive plant spreads along our road systems. Long after the purple flowers have faded, the spiny six-foot skeletons stand against the north winds of November. Unless it falls to the crushing weight of heavy snow, teasel will haunt the winter months as well, a spiny skeleton against a background of soft white snow.

This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.