Gossypium herbaceum subsp. africanum, wild cotton living up to its name

Called wild cotton on account of this display, Gossypium herbaceum subsp. africanum embeds its seeds in this white fluffy stuff. Bird nest lining comes to mind, also to the minds of many birds; small minds still thinking alike.

The brown capsule appears too small for its recently released contents. The three brown bracts forming the epicalyx spread their pointy fingers as if in blessing over the darker capsule.

The seeds? They can surely wait until the bird nest is discarded and eventually hits the ground. The birds happily fly off with their offspring, the plant happy for its seed to be rained upon in the ground, commencing an equivalent new life sequence.

Happiness projected into plant or bird world surely does no harm; it may be warranted on the grounds of nature itself being a celebration of life.

There are more photos and stories about this plant in the Shrubs Album elsewhere on this Site (Pooley, 1998; Onderstall, 1996; Letty, 1962; iSpot; Mannheimer and Curtis, (Eds.), 2009; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000).