Tempting Teasel

Are those frosted cupcakes out in that field, atop the tall grasses?

Teasel Cupcake

No, those are teasel pods with the blossoms forming a mirage of baked sweets.

Teasel is considered an invasive species.  It was brought to North America as an ornamental, and possibly for use in the woollen industry.   (Dried teasel pods were used to raise the nap of woollen fabric in the old world.)

The fanciful images of these coned pods caught my attention.  I have seen them brown and dried in the winter, but had never seen them in bloom before, which happens in July and August.

Wedding Cake Teasel

Teasel is a biennial plant.  In the first year of its growth, it forms a large rosette of leaves on the ground.  The second year, these tall spikes grow, averaging around six feet in height.  Such large and aggressive growth crowds out the natural species that would otherwise grown in their place.