Showy Milkweed: tan seedpods are three inches long and contain hairs surrounding the seeds.

• A. Prickly Pear
• B. Showy Milkweed
• C. Locoweeds
• D. Broom Snakeweed

Answer: (B)

That seedpod description is a hallmark of milkweed. The tan pods grow about three inches long and, when mature, split open to reveal seeds each with a silky tuft of hairs. Those hairs, or floss, catch the wind and carry the seeds far away, helping the plant spread. Among common rangeland plants, showy milkweed is the one that matches that combination of pod size and the silky hairs around the seeds. Prickly pear is a cactus with flat pads and spines, not long seedpods with silky hairs. Locoweeds have smaller, dry pods that don’t carry hair-covered seeds, and broom snakeweed produces seeds without that distinctive silky dispersal mechanism. So this description fits showy milkweed.