A friend

who is packing to move house gave me a box containing seed pods from swan plants which she collected last year.  The dried pods have burst open and while there are a lot of seeds the envelope is full of the beautifully soft and silky floss which the seeds were initially attached to.  The swan plant is a member of the milkweed family and isn't a problem plant in this country as it is in some others.  It's easy to see how far and wide these delicate little 'parachutes' could carry their cargo.