It's winter, and the seeds are flying

 The cold north winds we had recently have shredded the cattails that line the banks of Zarzamora Creek. The seed heads — called spikes —are in all states of disintegration. Some are relatively intact. Some are almost gone. But invariably, spikes come apart from the top down.

The spikes have both male and female flowers, the male above the female. When the north winds come, the males unravel first.

Each spike can contain 117,000 to 268,000 seeds. If cattail seeds were people, you might fit the population of San Antonio into five or six spikes.