Iron weed ( Vernonia gigantic) is a very tall native perennial in the aster family.
It is over 6 feet tall and silently appears on the edge of the meadow and woods.
Its purple flowers are striking.
It is self-incompatible (SI) which is best-studied and particularly common in flowering plants. In plants with SI, when a pollen grain produced in a plant reaches a stigma of the same plant or another plant with a matching allele or genotype, the process of pollen germination, pollen-tube growth, ovule fertilization, or embryo development is inhibited, and consequently no seeds are produced. SI is one of the most important means of preventing inbreeding and promoting the generation of new genotypes in plants.
Ironweed
There is a shade of purple in
this flower near summer's end that makes
you proud to be alive in such
a world, and thrilled to know the gift
of sight. It seems a color sent
from memory or dream. In fields,
along old trails, at pasture edge,
the ironweed bares its vivid tint,
profoundest violet, a note
from farthest star and deepest time,
the glow of sacred royalty
and timbre of eternity
right here beside a dried-up stream.
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