Spotted knapweed is a plant native to Europe and Asia. It was introduced to North America in the 1890s as a contaminant in agricultural seed and through soil discarded from ships' ballast. The species has become a serious problem of pastures and rangeland in the western United States. Here it seems to be found primarily as scattered individual plants on disturbed sites.
Spotted knapweed flowers somewhat resemble a small thistle: pale red-blue flowers on branched stems. Pollinated flowers produce an abundance of small seeds with a fluffy tuft that helps the wind disperse the seeds.
In the restored grassland through which I was walking there were scattered plants of spotted knapweed, some were in bloom but most had already produced seeds.
A flash of color caught my eye – it was a male American goldfinch busily feeding on knapweed seed by picking apart the dry flower heads, first discarding the white fluff –
He moved to another spot on the many-branched plant -
And I moved on.
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Woody