Milkweed Pod

In an orchard nearby, I found a patch of milkweed plants. Their little brown-black seeds were being carried aloft on long white silken strands. The seed pods themselves were odd and subtly colored, shaped like giant elongated teardrops...The pods themselves were rough and colored in blondes and a touch of sienna...it was late in the fall, and most of the casings had already opened. The ground was littered with clumps of the silks, tangled with each other, so that when I first saw it from a distance, I mistook them for cotton plants.