Image of the Day: Mysterious Pricklies

Branch

It was a mix of slight repulsion, and slight fascination. What are these things? I see them all the time but never know their name.  To this day I still don’t know what they’re called, but they reside just around the corner of my house in the expansive St. John’s Marsh. It was gray late fall day, and these mysterious prickly creations immediately caught my eye. Time to grab the camera!