Warm & Wooly

The Pasque flower is blooming now and so silky furry that I can’t resist petting it when I go by. The huge purple blooms are full of golden stamens and very showy, but it is really the fuzz that attracts me. It reminds me of other furry plants: Clematis’ seed heads; the mullein growing around the barns that I use as bandages in a pinch as the leaves are not only thick & soft like blankets but stick together when wound around your finger; pussy willows of course; and some of the hardiest species tulips like T. biflora, whose papery tunics are furry inside. As I would want mine to be. I have read somewhere that fuzziness in plants is an adaptation to cold climates and that would make sense, though I think perhaps the Clematis’ seed fuzz is for dispersal.