Here’s something I’ve never seen before because I live too far north.

Frostweed (Verbesina virginica) is a plant in the Aster family native to the southeastern U.S., the lower Mississippi valley, and Texas.  It’s closely related to our familiar wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia) but it doesn’t grow here.  Alas.

I say “Alas” because, when conditions are right, its stems exude water and create stunning frost flowers when the temperature drops below freezing.

Meredith O’Reilly of Austin, Texas displays photos of these beautiful ice sculptures, here at her Great Stems blog.  And see more of them here at The Frost Below.

Thank you to Allen Janis for alerting me to these delicate winter structures.

(photo for frost flower from Wikimedia Commons; click on the image to see the original. Range map of frostweed liked from Biota of North America Program ( BONAP) map of Verbesina virginica)