Thimbleweed

This curious plant offers different attractions at different times of the year. During early summer, white flowers are produced, which are soon replaced by long-lasting thimble-shaped seedheads. During the fall, these seedheads slowly distintegrate into white cottony masses that remain attractive all winter. Thimbleweed is an upright growing herbaceous species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Thimbleweed was given the common name "Thimbleweed" due to its pistil resembling the shape of a thimble. When the fruits, called achenes, are ripe they have gray-white colored, densely woolly styles, that allow them to blow away in the wind. The leaf structure is whorled halfway up the stem and each individual leaf appears to be deeply cut. It is native from eastern North America, where it is found growing in dry or open woods

Soil type: prefers acidic soils but will tolerate liming

Soil moisture: drought and cold tolerant

Sun exposure: shade to sun

Height: 30–80 centimetres (12–31 inches)

Bloom Color: white or greenish-white

Bloom Time: May until July

Benefits: Small bees and flower flies visit the flowers occasionally for pollen. Bee visitors include Plasterer bees (Colletes spp.) and Halictid bees (Halictus spp., Lasioglossum spp., etc.). Mammalian herbivores usually leave this plant alone because the foliage contains a blistering agent that can irritate the mouth parts and digestive tract. When this plant forms colonies, it provides a minor source of cover for small animals.

(Sources: mortonarb.com / leavesforwildlife.com /vplant.org / inaturalist.org, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org)