Planters

I found a patch of clover beneath the trees in the planters. I have a certain phobia of those little clover bean pods that shoot seeds when you touch them. When I was younger, I thought they all bore an uncanny resemblance to pupae of some parasitic insect burrowing out of a caterpillar's body. My heart was pounding when I first approached them, but soon I figured poking them with a pencil could produce the same effect.

It turns out on the inside, they have hinged white shells, each half attached to a wall. When you touch the bean, the hinge comes apart and rips the wall open, and the seed is propelled much like one of those popper toys you get at birthday parties.

I then observed another planter with something resembling giant moss under it. I brushed my pencil over these, too, and I heard a cracking sound, but I couldn't see anything shooting out. These plants are interesting. They have little pods that are split with little equators. The equators fall off when you touch them, and the pods have myriad black seeds (possibly spore) in them. These pods are surrounded by a thick coating of white fur which catches the seeds. I'm not so sure why it does that yet.

There was a third sort of plant growing on the planters, but I couldn't quite make out any sort of seed-holding structure. It disappointed me. I'll have to check back in the summertime.