Wild looking, whatever it is!

"Rusty Mase" wrote in message
...
The top of the plant is not visible but it is probably Frostweed, a
Verbesina. The water in the stem freezes first but the roots remain
active and continue to send water up the stem where it reaches the
blocked zone - so the stem "explodes" with the expanding water.

This is a common plant around here.

On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 15:07:32 GMT, Gary Brady
wrote:

Every time we get a hard freeze, a certain kind of weed in my yard gets
little columns of ice around the stem (see link below). Anybody know
the story behind why this happens? I surmise that the plant puts off a
lot of water vapor through the stem, but that's just a guess.

Merry Christmas to all.

http://powdercoatoven.4t.com/Misc%20...ew%20Page.html


Rusty Mase