Radio Salsify

I was mystified, albeit in a delighted sort of way - to come across some giant dandelion seedheads the other day, walking in the village. Today at Dyrham Park we found some in the wildflower meadow. 

They look like old fashioned radio antenna (well, ok, my first qualification was in radio telecommunications and we had some odd antenna!), and inside the seed head are thousands go tiny cat's whisker filaments.

I Googled to find it's not a dandelion at all, but something called salsify. I knew the name but for no reason I could account for. Ah well, new knowledge. The truth is out there, if you tune in to the right wavelength.