CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Some unusual flowers bloomed in Montgomery County this week, but their white layers weren’t made of petals – they were made of ice.
Bonnie Foster captured photos of these frost flowers, which bloomed on Port Royal Road on Thursday and Friday.
Foster told Clarksville Now that at first glance she thought the road had been littered with toilet paper.
“But when we pulled over and looked, they were glorious!” she said. And they’re fragile: “They crumble to the touch.”
What are frost flowers?
Frost flowers are thin layers of ice extruded through slits from the stems of white or yellow wingstem plants, among others, according to the National Weather Service.
“Their formation requires freezing air temperature, soil that is moist or wet but not frozen, and a plant’s stem that has not been previously frozen,” the NWS said.
“The water in the plant’s stem is drawn upward by capillary action from the ground. It expands as it freezes and splits the stem vertically and freezes on contact with the air. As more water is drawn from ground through the split, it extrudes a paper thin ice layer further from the stem. The length of the split determines if the frost flower is a narrow or wide ribbon of ice. It curls unpredictably as it is extruded, perhaps from unequal friction along the sides of the split, to form ‘petals.’
The result: Blooms that are as unique and beautiful as they fragile and temporary.
“These flowers, no two of which are alike, are fragile and last only until they sublimate or melt,” the NWS said.
To find them, the NWS said, look for tall weeds, especially in locations that aren’t often mowed. They seem to prefer the same areas as purple ironweed, blackberries and wingstems.