Teasel is an invasive species that was once used by industry for its combs, the dried out husks were good for gathering cotton -I guess. This, like many other species, have been common sites for all my life. They do not look like what I imagine an invasive species to be, but what does? Gray squirrels displaced red & black ones, house sparrows displaced bluebirds. The country, even the world is a story of migration of one manner or another. Seeds, people and animals travel, it is a plain truth. Japanese knot weed fields were plentiful when I was a kid and still are. We called it bamboo , and it made an excelent playground. Getting back to the teasel, I photograph it alot. After some thought, I decided it's because its appearance reminds me of my city. Slightly dangerous with spikes and thorns, rusty, as well as somewhat spiritual with its leaves lifted upward in a kind of prayer.
