Thursday, June 25, 2009

Truffula Tree (176/365)

2009 06 25 IMG_6744 
“Who gathers thistles, may expect pricks"

Proverb

TIME:  7:23 PM
PLACE:  West Monroe Street by the Richland Creek bridge
SUBJECT:  Canadian Thistle

A double-header tonight for MonkeyBoy - they've quite a bit of rainouts to make-up.  The only catch - it was still 95 degrees at 6pm when they started.  By the time they finished at 10:00pm it had cooled down all the way to 84 degrees!  Ah, well, they won both games so that was good.  

This is another noxious weed that I think is quite lovely when not irritating the farmers. 
I think it looks like the Truffula Trees in the Dr. Seuss book, "The Lorax".  At the risk of being politically incorrect, I never thought the Lorax character was a hero - I always felt that he was too big on complaining about what was happening to the trees and way too ineffective in actually doing anything to help save them.  It was the Once-ler who saved the last Truffula seed and gave it to a child in the hopes of growing more.  I think that this post at Super Punch really hits the nail on the head.

5 comments:

Dot O said...

SuzyH, you are right - too pretty to be a weed.

I'll have to look into that Dr. Seuss story as I am totally unfamiliar with it.

Great on the DH game last night! Maybe the heat was a good thing - kept those baseball muscles warmed up and in top form!

Mari said...

I don't know that Dr Seuss story either. I love the thistle though!

SaraG said...

WOW, that is an awesome WEED.
Great photo!!

bentonflocke said...

what a pretty plant is this - fantastic shot!!!

Anonymous said...

If this is a true Canadian Thistle, it is outlawed in some areas. It is on the top ten of noxious weeds list by the US Government because it is so difficult to eradicate. Cutting it off or pulling it (ouch) only spreads it. The roots, broken up into tiny pieces, produce more plants. Even a piece of root as small as one inch can produce another plant. The roots, going as deep as 10 feet, is the reason it is so hard to destroy. It can destroy crops - especially the kind that are used in animal foods, and grazing land. Animals refuse to eat where these grow in abundance and a farmer with a field of them cannot sell his crop.

I've read Roundup, carefully applied to the plant, is the only thing that will kill it without causing environmental problems - at least that is what Roundup states.

So, ladies, you see a prime example where the beauty IS only skin deep.